The current president of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, recently decided to run for a third term, despite a constitutional law prohibiting anyone from serving more than two terms. In this East African nation, where a 13-year civil war between Tutsis and Hutus ended less than a decade ago, violent protests erupted over Nkurunziza's decision, leading to widespread clashes with police and armed forces and the deaths of dozens of demonstrators. On May 13, in an apparent coup attempt, Nkurunziza's former intelligence chief Major General Godefroid Niyombare said that he had removed Nkurunziza as president and was working with civil society groups to form a transitional government. The presidential office quickly dismissed the declaration, but at the moment, heavy gunfire is reportedly being heard in the streets of the capital city of Bujumbura, and though it still remains somewhat unclear who is in control of the country, the BBC is reporting that soldiers loyal to President Nkurunziza say they are now in control of key locations in the capital.
- Police stand by as a barricade erected by protesters burns in the distance as people demonstrate against the president's bid for a third term in power in Musaga, in the outskirts of Bujumbura, Burundi, on April 27, 2015.Simon Maina / AFP / Getty Images
- A protester holds a placard as they demonstrate against the ruling CNDD-FDD party's decision to allow Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third five-year term in office, in Bujumbura, on May 4, 2015.Jean Pierre Harerimana / Reuters
- A riot policeman fires a teargas canister at protesters during clashes against the decision to allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third five-year term in office on April 27, 2015.Thomas Mukoya / Reuters
- A protester holds up a dead owl attached to a stick, intended to denigrate the ruling party whose emblem is an eagle, during a protest in Buterere neighborhood of Bujumbura on May 12, 2015.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
- A man identified as Pascal, who was injured by a gunshot and died later, lies on a gurney in a health center in the Musaga neighborhood of Bujumbura on May 4, 2015. Police in Burundi shot dead at least two demonstrators on May 4 in clashes with protesters angry at a bid by President Pierre Nkurunziza to extend his rule, a human rights activist said.Phil Moore / AFP / Getty Images
- A bus burns after being set on fire by demonstrators in the Ngagara district of Bujumbura on May 12, 2015. A crowd who were marching to the funeral of a woman who died in recent protests were blocked from doing so by police, and the crowd then set fire to a bus and government car and motorcycle.Berthier Mugiraneza / AP
- (1 of 5) Jean Claude Niyonzima, a suspected member of the ruling party's Imbonerakure youth militia, is restrained as a mob gathers around his house, as protests continue against President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term in the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura on May 7, 2015.Jerome Delay / AP
- (2 of 5) Demonstrators corner and beat Jean Claude Niyonzima, a suspected member of the ruling party's Imbonerakure youth militia, at his home in the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura on May 7, 2015.Jerome Delay / AP
- (3 of 5) People armed with sticks chase Jean Claude Niyonzima as he tries to escape a lynching at the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura on May 7, 2015.Aymeric Vincenot / AFP / Getty Images
- (4 of 5) Jean Claude Niyonzima pleads with soldiers to protect him from a mob of demonstrators after he came out of hiding in a sewer in the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura on May 7, 2015. Niyonzima fled from his house into the sewer under a hail of stones thrown by a mob protesting President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term in office.Jerome Delay / AP
- (5 of 5) Demonstrators duck and run from soldiers firing into the air to disperse a crowd of demonstrators who had cornered Jean Claude Niyonzima a suspected member of the ruling party's Imbonerakure youth militia in a sewer in the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura on May 7, 2015. Niyonzima eventually managed to flee after the army fired the shots into the air, dispersing the crowd.Jerome Delay / AP
- Riot police chase a demonstrator in Bujumbura on May 4, 2015. Anti-government demonstrations resumed in Burundi's capital after a weekend pause as thousands continued to protest the president's decision to seek a third term.Jerome Delay / AP
- Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza speaks to the media after he registered to run for a third five-year term in office, in the capital of Bujumbura on May 8, 2015.Jean Pierre Harerimana / Reuters
- Burundian refugees gather at the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Kagunga village in Kigoma region in western Tanzania, as they wait for MV Liemba to transport them to Kigoma township, on May 12, 2015. Government officials in Tanzania have told local media that at least 80,000 refugees have arrived in Kigoma since Burundi's pre-election skirmishes begun.Reuters
- (1 of 6) Angry protesters gesture near female police officer accused of shooting a protester in the Buterere neighborhood of Bujumbura on May 12, 2015.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
- (2 of 6) A policeman tries to protect a female police officer accused of shooting a protester in the Buterere neighborhood of Bujumbura on May 12, 2015.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
- (6 of 6) Policeman escort a female police officer accused by protesters of shooting another protester in Bujumbura on May 12, 2015. The anti-Nkurunziza demonstrators chased, beat and stoned the woman, who was later handed back to the police.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
- A demonstrator walks with others toward a barricade in the Musaga district of Bujumbura on May 6, 2015. On Tuesday some protesters made hats out of branches, which seems to have progressed on Wednesday to this more elaborate millinery style adopted by some protesters, without any explanation for the fashion.Jerome Delay / AP
- Major General Godefroid Niyombare addresses the nation inside the Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) broadcasting studios in Burundi's capital of Bujumbura on May 13, 2015. The Burundian general said on Wednesday he had deposed President Pierre Nkurunziza for seeking an unconstitutional third term in office and was forming a transitional government, after more than two weeks of protests against the election bid. But as cheering crowds streamed onto the streets of Bujumbura, sporadic gunfire was heard in the center of the capital, and it was not immediately clear how much support Niyombare had.Jean Pierre Harerimana / Reuters
- A Burundi army soldier riding in an armored vehicle raises his gun in the air as he joins demonstrators celebrating what they perceive to be an attempted military coup d'etat, in Bujumbura on May 13, 2015. Police vanished from the streets of Burundi's capital Wednesday as thousands of people celebrated a coup attempt against President Pierre Nkurunziza.Berthier Mugiraneza / AP
- Men run for cover after they hear gunfire in a street in Bujumbura on May 14, 2015. Gunfire could still be heard in the capital, and whether the government or the coup leaders had taken control was not clear.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
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