Bujumbura, Burundi: Assailants attacked numerous polling stations in Burundi overnight, disrupting the start of voting in controversial polls that follow two months of unrest over the president's bid for a third term.
Armed groups threw grenades at stations in both the capital Bujumbura and in some provinces ahead of today's parliamentary and local elections, delaying the start of voting in many of the centers, police and election officials said.
"Voting has not yet begun in many centers in the capital because election officials are trying to prepare materials and in almost all of the stations, these arrived late because of the overnight attacks," Cyriaque Bucumi, the president of the Bujumbura electoral commission, told AFP.
Burundi has been roiled by weeks of unrest that has included widespread protests and a failed coup bid and that has killed more than 70 people and send thousands fleeing the central African country following President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term.
Burundi was plunged into turmoil in late April when Nkurunziza launched his drive for a third consecutive five-year term, triggering widespread protests.
Several top officials - including the deputy vice-president Gervais Rufyikiri as well as members of the election commission and constitutional court - have also fled the poverty-stricken, landlocked country
Armed groups threw grenades at stations in both the capital Bujumbura and in some provinces ahead of today's parliamentary and local elections, delaying the start of voting in many of the centers, police and election officials said.
"Voting has not yet begun in many centers in the capital because election officials are trying to prepare materials and in almost all of the stations, these arrived late because of the overnight attacks," Cyriaque Bucumi, the president of the Bujumbura electoral commission, told AFP.
Burundi has been roiled by weeks of unrest that has included widespread protests and a failed coup bid and that has killed more than 70 people and send thousands fleeing the central African country following President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term.
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Burundi was plunged into turmoil in late April when Nkurunziza launched his drive for a third consecutive five-year term, triggering widespread protests.
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Several top officials - including the deputy vice-president Gervais Rufyikiri as well as members of the election commission and constitutional court - have also fled the poverty-stricken, landlocked country
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