Updated

The U.N. children's agency says children are suffering as a result of instability and election-related violence in Burundi including three killed in the last five days and dozens forced to flee from school.

UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said one child died as a result of a grenade explosion in Muyinga province, becoming the first child victim outside the capital Bujumbura.

Burundi has been hit by violence since the April announcement that President Pierre Nkurunziza would run for a third term in presidential elections set for July 15.

Boulierac said in Geneva that a total of eight children have been killed since the violence erupted including a four-year-old hit by a stray bullet to the stomach. His comments were reported on the U.N.'s website.