A top advisor to Burundi’s President and the most public face of the government has escaped an assassination attempt in the capital Bujumbura, officials said on Tuesday.
Willy Nyamitwe, President Pierre Nkurunziza’s advisor, was returning home on Monday night when “he was met with sustained gunfire and grenade explosions”, a high-ranking presidential official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
One of his bodyguards was killed and another injured while Nyamitwe suffered slight wounds to his arm.
Police said the attackers were waiting in a nearby house under construction before launching the ambush.
“I thank those who wish me a speedy recovery. I am doing well but saddened by the death of a best friend, the policeman Gasongo,” Nyamitwe tweeted after the attack.
Burundi has been in turmoil since April 2015 following Nkurunziza’s declaration that he would bid for a controversial third term in office, one that he went on to win in the July poll.
More than 500 people have been killed and at least 300,000 have fled the country, while several well-known figures, including high-ranking military officers, have been assassinated.
