Grenade attack in Burundi capital wounds 36

BUJUMBURA, Sept 4 (Reuters) Gunmen lobbed several grenades into a bar in the Burundian capital Bujumbura, wounding 36 people, a local official said today.

The attack took place late yesterday in the central suburb of Nyakabiga, local government official Richard Nimubona told reporters.

''Those assailants threw four grenades inside the bar and three others outside the bar when customers were drinking beer there'', Nimubona said.

''The injured were immediately taken to hospital, but 12 of them are in a critical state.'' Eight people were killed and several injured in similar grenade attacks on bars earlier this year in northern and eastern suburbs of Bujumbura.

The police have yet to make any arrests in the July and August attacks, fuelling frustration and anxiety among Bujumbura residents.

''It is unbelievable. This is the fourth attack and the police have been unable to arrest those criminals,'' Saidi, a resident of Nyakabiga suburb who feared giving his full name in case of reprisal, told Reuters.

Police officials were not immediately available for comment.

Some residents in Bujumbura suspect those behind the attacks may include disaffected former combatants not yet integrated into Burundi's security services.

The tiny central African nation of seven million people has been torn by sporadic conflict between its majority Hutu and minority Tutsi ethnic groups since independence from Belgium in 1962.

REUTERS AB PM2124