Bujumbura — Unidentified robbers shot three civil servants killing two on Monday 11 February in Gitega, the second largest city of Burundi.

The bloody event took place in the pub belonging to Marcel Seshahu located in the quarter Vétérinaire of the city of Gitega where the victims were quenching their thirst. The robbers who were looking for money and cellular phones killed on the spot two persons, Vincent Ndikumasabo and Cassien Rubereza, and wounded seriously the third person. The wounded one has been referred to Bujumbura for better treatment.

Although there is a police position at 300 metres from the pub, it took more than another hour to the police to reach the pub. On 21 January, the Security Ministers announced measures to rid Burundi of the escalating violence. These measures included giving vehicles to police stations in all communes in order to quicken the deployment of the police on the spot of any crime. This measure seems to have yielded no results. Criminals continue to target innocent people no far from police stations and it still takes too long a time for the police to intervene.

The police have movement to disarmament of the civilian population after years of inactivity of the disarmament commission that the government set up in 2006. The police proceed to a roundup wherever major criminal activities are noticed. Today, police undertook a search operation in the Quarter Nyamugari where they found bullets and a pistol.