Burundi's presidential office says President Pierre Nkurunziza is back in the country, saying that a military coup attempted while he was in Tanzania has failed. Nkurunziza's office said Thursday the president salutes the army, police and Burundian people. It says security forces are looking for the coup leaders so they can be brought to justice. It is not yet possible to verify if the president has returned to Burundi or exactly what is happening there. Earlier on Thursday, gunfire rang out across Burundi's capital as rival army factions battled for control of the city a day after a top general launched a coup attempt while the president was out of the country.
Fighting, which began overnight and intensified by daybreak Thursday, was centered around the state radio and TV complex – a strategic asset for both sides to reach the population – with troops who support the coup trying to take it from soldiers loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza.
VOA's Gabe Joselow, who is in Bujumbura, said he saw a dead soldier near the complex.
Gunfire died down after hours of fighting, and a spokesman for the pro-coup forces, Zeno Ndabaneze, told VOA's Central Africa Service that presidential loyalists remain in control of the broadcast center. He said coup supporters have withdrawn from the area.
State radio, which had gone off the air, returned after about 90 minutes, playing what listeners describe as unity and reconciliation songs. The station had been cut off soon after it broadcast a message from the president, who said he is still in power and that the army supports him.
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