Albino girl killed for body parts

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A six-year-old albino girl in Burundi has been found dead with her arms and legs removed, in the latest killing linked to ritual medicine.

Albinos in the region have been targeted because of a belief peddled by witchdoctors that their body parts can be used for magic potions.

The girl, who was attacked on Saturday, was the third person with albinism to be killed in Burundi since September.

There have also been a number of attacks in neighbouring Tanzania.

The latest attack took place in Burundi's eastern province of Ruyigi.

The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in Burundi said the child and her family had only just returned to their family home.

They had been among a group of about 20 people with albinism to have fled to a provincial centre because they feared for her safety.

The attacks appear to have spread from north-western Tanzania, where they were first reported.

Last week, police in south-western Tanzania arrested a man who was attempting to sell his albino wife to Congolese traders.

Two mothers in western Tanzania were also attacked with machetes after gangs failed to find their albino children.