Catholic convent attacked in Burundi, 3 Reverend Sisters killed

Three elderly Italian nuns have been killed at their convent in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, Reuters reports.

The motive for the killings is not yet known but police in the city have detained two suspects.
The nuns were named as Lucia Pulici, aged 75, Olga Raschietti, aged 82, and Bernadetta Boggian, aged 79. Their bodies were discovered at separate times.

 Earlier reports said the body of two of the nuns were firstly discovered and  the Catholic diocese of Parma, Italy, said on its website that the deaths of Lucia Pulici and Olga Raschietti appeared to have been “the tragic outcome of an armed robbery by a mentally unbalanced person”.

Both nuns were said to be members of the Xaverian Catholic order.

In 2011, a Croatian nun and an Italian aid worker were killed in a botched robbery in northern Burundi.

Burundi, one of the world’s poorest nations, with an economy dependent on tea and coffee exports, has been struggling to overcome the legacy of a 12-year civil war between rival ethnic groups.