Gunmen kill five in Burundi bar attack

Gunmen in trenchcoats burst into a bar firing at drinkers in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura killing five, police said Friday, the latest in a string of attacks in the troubled country.

Four civilians and a soldier were killed and three others were wounded in the shooting late on Thursday.

“A group of four armed criminals wearing long coats entered … they started shooting at customers,” police spokesman Moise Nkurunziza said.

Hundreds have been killed and a quarter of a million people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial decision last April to run for a third term, a vote he won amid opposition boycotts in July.

The latest efforts to hold talks between rival factions are due to open on Monday in the Tanzanian town of Arusha.