Clashes between police and members of a Catholic sect in northern Burundi have left at least six people dead and more than thirty-five others injured, media reports citing local officials said Tuesday.
The clashes were reportedly triggered after police attempted to prevent the sect members, followers of 30-year-old Zebiya Ngendakumana who claims to have visions of the Virgin Mary on the 12th day of every month, from praying at a hilltop in the country's northern Kayanza region.
Athanase Mbonabuca, governor of the Kayanza region, was quoted as saying by the BBC that the violent clashes erupted after sect members attacked the police with clubs and stones. He said all those killed are believed to be sect members, and added that at least four policemen were seriously injured in the violence.
The BBC report indicated that relations between Ngendakumana's followers and the Burundi government have been strained ever since police destroyed a sanctuary of the sect in Kayanza last year.
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