Security forces on Wednesday morning killed three gunmen and seized their two guns and ammunition in Matongo district in Kayanza Province, north Burundi, the governor of Kayanza told Xinhua by phone on Wednesday afternoon.
"There were clashes at dawn between security forces and a group of armed criminals at Matongo near the National Road Number One (RN1) linking Bujumbura commercial capital to Kayanza town. The gunmen wanted to leave the area and board a car of their collaborators, but security forces were on alert and opened fire on them," the governor of Kayanza province, Colonel Remy Cishahayo said.
According to him, two gunmen died on the spot and one of them who was seriously injured died in the afternoon after being evacuated to Kayanza hospital. "The fourth one was captured and he is the one who showed us where their two guns and four chargers had been hidden," Cishahayo said.
He added that the dismantled group of criminals had arrived in Matongo on Sunday after being chased from Teza forest reserve.
The information was confirmed by Burundian security ministry spokesman, Pierre Nkurikiye, who said that a local administration official and a police agent were injured following a grenade blasted by those gunmen.
The district of Matongo in Kayanza Province is close to the Kibira natural forest where gunmen often hide to perpetrate attacks and ambushes on passengers on the National Road Number One. (ANI/Xinhua)
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor