Coup attempt in Burundi

Coup attempt in Burundi 

Burundi General Godefroid Niyombare announced that he had deposed president Pierre Nkurunziza on May 13 while the president was visiting neighboring Tanzania. The coup was quickly put down by soldiers and police loyal to the president.

Protests, often becoming violent, have plagued Burundi since Nkurunziza announced on April 25 that he would seek a third term in office in elections scheduled for June 26. According to the Burundi constitution, a president may be elected to only two terms in office, but Nkurunziza insisted that he could run a third time due to being appointed, as opposed to elected, to his first term. The Burundi Constitutional Court upheld Nkurunziza’s interpretation. 

More than 100,000 people have left Burundi during the unrest. In neighboring Tanzania, at least 31 refugees have died in a cholera epidemic that has infected more than 3,000 Burundian refugees.