Rwandan President Paul Kagame accused Burundi's leaders of carrying out massacres on their own people as human rights activists said Sunday that security forces in the capital, Bujumbura, had killed 11 people over the weekend, dpa reported. "Are these leaders or what who kill their own people from morning to evening, dump them on the street and in streams and then stand up and start accusing Rwanda?" Kagame said in a speech Friday that was released only on Sunday. Kagame's comments could cause tensions between the neighboring countries to rise. He made them after Burundi's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, has repeatedly accused Rwanda of precipitating violence and instability in Burundi. Activists said about 200 people have been killed in Burundi since April when Nkurunziza announced his intention to seek a third term, which his critics said was unconstitutional. Nkurunziza, however, went on to win an election boycotted by the opposition in July. The latest violence occurred Saturday night in Bujumbura when eight people were killed by gunmen at a bar, human rights groups said. It was not clear who the gunmen were, witnesses said, but the killings occurred as a deadline given by Nkurunziza for "criminals" to surrender illegal firearms or be treated as enemies of state approached.
