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Burundi Political Crisis

26 images Created 16 Aug 2015

The small African nation of Burundi has been gripped by violence since April 2015, when Pierre Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third-term as President despite a legal limit of two terms. The opposition immediately claimed that his decision breached both the constitution and the 2006 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, which had ended the 13th-year civil war that left more than 300,000 people dead. Despite the street violence, a wave of assassinations and grenade attacks, a failed coup d’etat and foreign pressure, the presidential elections went ahead in July and Nkurunziza won a third term as leader, raising widespread fears of renewed civil war in the impoverish country in the heart of central Africa’s troubled Great Lakes region. With the nation’s fragile peace under threat as tensions simmer between opposition political groups and a strong police force loyal to the president, more than 210,000 people have fled the post-election violence to find refuge in neighbouring countries.

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  • A child runs towards his house in the Chibitoke neighbourhood of Bujumbura. Cibitoke have in the past couple of moths been the scene of violent protests against the presidents third term bid.
    BurundiCrisis_01.jpg
  • Demonstrators in Musaga, a district in Burundi's capital Bujumbura that has been at the heart of violent protests against the presidents third term bid, react to sustained automatic fire allegedly fired by police forces.
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  • Locals react to gunfire shot by the Burundian National Police officers during a raid in Cibitoke neighbourhood, Bujumbura.
    BurundiCrisis_03.jpg
  • A local man show's the body of Abdul Masumbuko, a young man allegedly killed by a grenade he was handling in Jade neighbourhood in Bujumbura, June 28, 2005.
    BurundiCrisis_04.jpg
  • Burundian university students, seeking shelter outside the US embassy in Bujumbura, build toilets and showers in the yard of a vacant building close by. The students moved to the area in early May because, they claim, the US authorities ensure their security, after their university was closed amid anti-government protests. The government closed the university at the end of April, citing ìinsecurityî.
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  • Local men are monitored by a Chinese engineer during the construction of a dam to prevent the erosion of the support pillars of a bridge in  central Bujumbura, Burundi.
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  • A red cross volunteer exercises at a local school in central Bujumbura, Burundi.
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  • A child during a rally in Rubiza, of Burundi's ruling party CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy). Burundi's ruling party said on June 23 it had boycotted the restart of UN-led talks hoped to broker peace between rival parties following weeks of violence and ahead of elections on June 29. The troubled central African nation has been in crisis since late April over President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid to stand for a third consecutive five-year term.
    BurundiCrisis_08.jpg
  • A man dances as supporters of Burundi's ruling party CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy) hold a rally in Rubiza. Burundi's ruling party said on June 23 it had boycotted the restart of UN-led talks hoped to broker peace between rival parties following weeks of violence and ahead of elections on June 29. The troubled central African nation has been in crisis since late April over President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid to stand for a third consecutive five-year term.
    BurundiCrisis_09.jpg
  • Supporters of Burundi's ruling party CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy) attend a rally in Rubiza. Burundi's ruling party said on June 23 it had boycotted the restart of UN-led talks hoped to broker peace between rival parties following weeks of violence and ahead of elections on June 29. The troubled central African nation has been in crisis since late April over President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid to stand for a third consecutive five-year term.
    BurundiCrisis_10.jpg
  • Members of Burundiís National Electoral Commission stand outside a classroom used as a poling station for the parliamentary elections in Cibitoke neighbourhood, Bujumbura, June 28th, 2015.
    BurundiCrisis_11.jpg
  • People are seen through a barricade in Musaga, a district in Burundi's capital Bujumbura that has been at the heart of violent protests against the presidents third term bid, throw stones during sustained automatic fire allegedly fired by police forces.
    BurundiCrisis_12.jpg
  • Locals wander the streets of Niykabiga in Bujumbura, moments after the National Police moved in to the area to disperse a group of protestors who blocked the road to prevent a candidate from a political party aligned with the ruling party CNDD-FDD, to rally in neighbourhood.
    BurundiCrisis_13.jpg
  • Demonstrators in Musaga, a district in Burundi's capital Bujumbura that has been at the heart of violent protests against the presidents third term bid, react to sustained automatic fire allegedly fired by police forces.
    BurundiCrisis_14.jpg
  • Hundreds of university students storm the embassy grounds seeking refuge from a police advance after a 24 hour deadline to abandon the area expired earlier in the morning. The students moved to the area in early May because, they claim, the US authorities ensure their security, after their university was closed amid anti-government protests. The government closed the university at the end of April, citing ìinsecurityî.
    BurundiCrisis_15.jpg
  • Demonstrators in Musaga, a district in Burundi's capital Bujumbura that has been at the heart of violent protests against the presidents third term bid, throw stones during sustained automatic fire allegedly fired by police forces.
    BurundiCrisis_16.jpg
  • Burundian military men take guard of take guard at a field in Musaga neighbourhood, in Bujumbura, where tents have been settled to be used as a polling station for the upcoming parliamentary elections, June 28th, 2015.
    BurundiCrisis_17.jpg
  • Burundian university students, seeking shelter outside the US embassy in Bujumbura, socialise near a vacant building close by. The students moved to the area in early May because, they claim, the US authorities ensure their security, after their university was closed amid anti-government protests. The government closed the university at the end of April, citing ìinsecurityî.
    BurundiCrisis_18.jpg
  • A victim of a grenade attack on a local shop in central Bujumbura, get's medical treatment at Prince Louis Rwagasore Clinic. Eight people were injured in the attack.
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  • A victim of a grenade attack on a local shop in central Bujumbura, lays on a gurney as medical staff provide medical treatment at Prince Louis Rwagasore Clinic. Eight people were injured in the attack.
    BurundiCrisis_20.jpg
  • A staff member of the Burundian National Independent Electoral Commission prepare a room at a polling station in Cibitoke neighbourhood in Bujumbura, minutes before the start of the vote for the countryís parliamentary elections., on June 29, 2015.
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  • An unidentified man goes through the registration cards of voters at a polling station in Kinama neighbourhood, Bujumbura, June 29, 2015.
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  • A member of Burundi's National Electoral Commission counts the ballot boxes at a warehouse being used to store electoral material for the upcoming parliamentary elections, in Niykabiga neighbourhood, Bujumbura, June 28th, 2015.
    BurundiCrisis_23.jpg
  • A member of the Burundian National Independent Electoral Commission awaits the closing of the votes for the parliamentary elections outside a room in a polling station near Musaga neighbourhood, Bujumbura, June 29, 2015.
    BurundiCrisis_24.jpg
  • Burundian Army during a rehearse for Independence Day celebrations at Burundi's National Stadium in Bujumbura.
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  • An army helicopter flies by as locals enjoy the beach at Lake Tanganyika in Bujumbura.
    BurundiCrisis_25.jpg
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Paulo Nunes dos Santos

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