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Couple and child killed in grenade attack
January 15 2010
Bujumbura - An attacker in northern Burundi hurled a
grenade into a home, killing a man, his wife and one of their children in the
explosion on Thursday.
"Last night in Busiga village, on Ruvumu hill, somebody
hurled a grenade into Louis Nyabenda's home," said local council official Aloys
Nyabenda on Friday.
"The grenade killed the head of the household, his wife and
one of their children aged 15."
He added that two smaller children of the same family had
been seriously wounded in the blast.
He said it was not immediately clear whether the attack was
motivated by a land dispute or by accusations that the victims practised
witchcraft.
Several suspects had been detained and were being
questioned, he said.
Grenades can be found easily for as little as $1 (R7.5) in
the central African nation. They are often used to settle land disputes and
family feuds, and killed more than 130 people in 2008.
Varying estimates put the number of weapons owned illegally
at between 100 000 and 300 000 in a nation struggling to emerge from years of
civil conflict.
The government
claims that a recent campaign enabled the recovery of 70 percent of those
weapons but rights groups contest the figure. - Sapa-AFP
