Violence has marred the start of Burundi's presidential election, already hit by opposition boycotts and protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term.

Blasts and gunfire echoed around the capital in a nation grappling with its worst crisis since a civil war ended in 2005. It has faced weeks of demonstrations, a failed coup and clashes between rebel soldiers and the army.

Willy Nyamitwe, the presidential adviser for information and media, said two policemen were shot dead in the capital, Bujumbura. The body of a man was found on the roadside. Residents in the Nyakabiga district, where the body was discovered, identified the man as an official in the opposition MSD party and accused the government of killing him. The opposition and the government blame each other for the overnight violence.

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A man lays dead in Bujumbura's Niyakabiga district on presidential election day in Burundi Mike Hutchings/Reuters
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People gather around the body of a man shot dead in the Nyakabiga neighbourhood of Bujumbura Carl de Souza/AFP
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A man cycles past a barricade set up by protesters in the Nyakabiga neighbourhood of Bujumbura Carl de Souza/AFP

Voters queued in some rural areas and districts of Bujumbura that are strongholds of Nkurunziza supporters. But there were only trickles of voters in other parts of the capital.

Opponents of the president have boycotted the poll, accusing Nkurunziza of violating the constitution by seeking another five years in office. Burundi's electoral commission said opposition names were still on the ballots and any votes for them would be counted.

There have been reports of voters cleaning their hands after having voted at polling stations near military camps. "Police and army officers went to vote but some, when they finished voting, tried to take the indelible ink off their fingers to hide the fact that they participated. It's an election when people are not proud of voting," a man from Bujumbura said.

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Residents wait to cast their votes in the village of Buye Phil Moore/AFP
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A woman votes at a school in Bujumbura Carl de Souza/AFP
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The shadows of men are cast against a wall painted in the colours of the Burundian flag in Ngozi in the north of the country Phil Moore/AFP
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A woman carries her child as she marks her ballot inside a booth at a polling centre in Buye, in Ngozi province, northern Burundi Reuters
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A ballot paper is pictured at a polling station in Buye, the native village of Burundi's president Phil Moore/AFP
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Soldiers guard a polling station in the Musaga neighbourhood of Bujumbura Carl de Souza/AFP
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Police and soldiers wait to cast their votes at a polling station in Bujumbura Mike Hutchings/Reuters
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A man has his fingers inked in order to show that he has voted, at a polling station in Bujumbura Landry Nshimiye/AFP

Nkurunziza, almost sure to win given the opposition boycott, cycled to a polling station in his home village of Buye and queued to cast his vote.

Before riding off, he told reporters the election was to "allow the Burundian people to vote or to choose someone they believe in".

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President Pierre Nkurunziza arrives by bicycle to cast his ballot at a polling station in his home village of Buye in Ngozi province, northern Burundi Phil Moore/AFP
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The president waits in line for his turn to vote Phil Moore/AFP
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The president casts his vote at a polling station in Buye Phil Moore/AFP

Although the result is hardly in doubt, it could be several days before the official announcement. The US State Department said elections held in these conditions "will not be credible and will further discredit the government".

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