Burundi's president elect Pierre Nkurunziza was on Thursday morning sworn in as the country’s president for a controversial third term.

The news was disclosed in the morning when the president’s office released a statement confirming that the swearing in ceremony was just hours away.

The chairman of the National Council for the Restoration of the Arusha Agreement and Rule of Law Leonard Nyangoma had called on president Nkurunziza to step down before August 26th.

“Protests against the illegal mandate of president Nkurunziza cost many lives and led to more than two hundred thousand Burundians to flee. We call on President Nkurunziza to step down after his second mandate before the country gets into carnage,” he said in a statement.

In an already tense and insecure capital, continued targeted killings have rocked the capital yet again as at least four people were killed Wednesday night in Bujumbura.

Former Burundi army chief of staff Col Jean Bikomagu was shot dead in his car near his home last Sunday in Bujumbura by unknown gunmen.

The new wave of the targeted killings have continued in the capital after the assassination of Burundi’s former Intelligence chief and president Nkurunziza’s aide Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana early this month.

Both the Opposition and government officials have been victims of the attacks.

Cordon and search operations have continued in some parts of Bujumbura in a move to disarm civilians who are illegally armed.