Rwandan President Paul Kagame has condemned the upsurge in violence in neighbouring Burundi.<\/p>\n
“People are being killed every day, bodies are found on the streets… Leaders are spending time killing people”, he said.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, nine people were shot dead in a bar in the capital Bujumbura.<\/p>\n
People began fleeing Bujumbura and other parts of Burundi before a government deadline on Saturday to hand in illegal firearms.<\/p>\n
President Pierre Nkurunziza warned that those who refused to obey the order would be “dealt with as enemies of the nation”.<\/p>\n
A cycle of violence began in April with protests against Mr Nkurunziza’s controversial decision to stand for a third term.<\/p>\n
He argued that his first term as president did not count towards the constitutional two-term limit as he was chosen by lawmakers.<\/p>\n
In July Mr Nkurunziza was duly re-elected to a third term with 70% of the vote.<\/p>\n
About 200 people have been killed since April.<\/p>\n
“It is sad that the African continent has a disease, to an extent that I will be blamed for meddling in another country, that I should be diplomatic about it or I deal with it politically. But that can’t be, I am being frank and open,” President Kagame said.<\/p>\n
“Leaders are spending time killing people. Bodies of dead people are scattered everywhere. Refugees are wandering everywhere – women and children – and you want to call this politics? What kind of politics is this?”<\/p>\n
Mr Kagame was speaking on Friday – but his comments were not broadcast until the following day.<\/p>\n
Burundi’s authorities have so far not publicly reacted.<\/p>\n
However, in the past, Burundi has accused Rwanda of training rebels seeking to destabilise the country, something Rwanda denies.<\/p>\n
Presidents Nkurunziza and Kagame were once on good terms but fell out in 2012.<\/p>\n
On Saturday night, gunmen shot at least nine people dead in a bar in Bujumbura.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses later said they saw seven bodies lying on the floor. Two others managed to flee but later died in hospital.<\/p>\n
Burundi’s security services have been carrying out house-to-house searches in neighbourhoods of Bujumbura seen as opposition strongholds,<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the UN condemned the “inflammatory rhetoric” by officials in Burundi.<\/p>\n