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from inhaling teargas, and another was arrested, a spokesman said yesterday.
Burundi has enjoyed relative peace since the former Hutu rebel Forces for National Liberation laid down their weapons and joined the government in 2009 after two decades of insurgency. But attacks on civilians and soldiers have intensified since elections last year were widely boycotted by the opposition. Analysts said fighting between the security forces and former militia fighters risks blowing up into a full-scale rebellion.

Police spokesman Pierre Channel Ntarabaganyi told reporters the student died from inhaling teargas used by officers when they entered the University of Burundi to search for the weapons.
“Early this morning, police conducted a search in one student’s room at Burundi’s university after receiving information about some weapons that could be hidden there. But a group of students tried to prevent the police from carrying out the operation, police fired teargas and one student died from shortness of breath,” Ntarabaganyi said.

He said police seized four hand grenades, three pairs of military boots and three uniforms during the raid. He said they also found documents suggesting that a student they arrested had links with FNL and another opposition party, the Movement for Solidarity and Democracy. – Reuters.