HABARI HIZI TOKA BURUNDI ZINASIKITISHA SANA HASA UKIZINGATIA KWAMBA WATANZANIA TUNAUSISHWA KAMA CHIMBUKO LA VITENDO HIVI VIOVU...KWELI NI AIBU SANA.
BUJUMBURA (AFP) – An albino man was murdered and dismembered overnight in Burundi by suspected smugglers with links to Tanzanian witch doctors, the fourth such case in a month in the central African nation, officials said Friday.
"An albino man by the name of Francois and aged around 20 was attacked by a group of criminals at his home in the Shombo district," some 140 kilometres (900 miles) northeast of Bujumbura, Karusi province governor Sylvestre Ndayizeye told AFP.
"They killed him, chopped off his legs and arms and fled," he said.
"The police and the local population chased the killers, who are believed to be hiding in Ruvubu forest," police spokesman Pierre Chanel Ntarabaganyi said.
On top of the four over the past month, at least another six albinos were killed in similar circumstances over the preceding five months.
"It's the reign of terror now, especially with the authorities denying us the right to organise a demonstration of support in Bujumbura this morning on the grounds that it would distract Burundians from their work," Kassim Kazungu, who chairs the country's albino society, told AFP.
"This is the fourth albino killed in less than a month and the government remains indifferent to the plight of the albinos... We are urging the international community to exert some pressure," he added.
Police sources suspect that albino limbs and organs are smuggled across the border into Tanzania and sold to witch doctors who use them to concoct lucky charms.
Fishermen and small-scale miners were initially believed to be the sorcerers' main customers but albino body parts can now fetch thousands of dollars in Tanzania.
A string of botched trials and fruitless arrests has raised suspicion that bigger players could be involved in the gruesome trade.
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