The United States has re-issued a travel warning for Burundi and advised U.S. government employees to exercise caution at night in the small African nation.
The U.S. State Department warned all American citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Burundi, citing the terrorist threat from Somali-based al-Shabab and the high crime in the impoverished nation.
According to the advisory, al-Shabab has threatened to conduct terror attacks in Burundi and may target U.S. interests.
The warning said U.S. citizens should avoid travel on Burundi’s national highways from dusk to dawn. Armed criminals ambush vehicles, particularly on the roads leading out of Bujumbura, according to the State Department.
Saying low-level political violence persists throughout Burundi as a carryover from the Burundian civil war, the State Department adds that weapons are easy to obtain in the country and some ex-combatants have turned to crime or political violence.