24 Burundian refugees killed

Over the past three weeks, unknown assailants have killed 24 Burundian refugees in Tanzania's Kibondo District in what one official described as attacks aimed at discouraging voluntary repatriations to Burundi. The governor of the Ruyigi Province in eastern Burundi, Isaac Bujaba, confirmed to IRIN on Thursday that the victims were killed in two series of attacks. He said seven people died in the first attacks - between 14 and 19 January. Buyaba said a survivor managed to escape to Ruyigi, which borders on Tanzania. Seventeen more were killed on 24 January, including five children and five women, two of whom were pregnant, according to Buyaba. "The only survivor of this carnage is a young man who is residing now in this province," he said. He said investigations were under way to establish the cause of the incidents. However, another Burundian state official told IRIN that "these attacks are meant to discourage the voluntary repatriation process under way" in Tanzania. An official of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told IRIN: "We have done some investigation, and we cannot confirm the incident."