A protestor in front of barricades in Bujumbura
BUJUMBURA, May 7, 2015 – Today was a tense morning. I found myself in the middle of clashes between protesters and police in Burundi where some people were injured by grenades and a protester was shot in the head right in front of me. Ugly scenes.
The writing had been on the wall that these elections in Burundi could be contentious, with such strong opposition to President Pierre Nkurunziza seeking a third term. I had been researching the situation in the country for a while, keeping an eye on current events and reading up on its history and politics, all in anticipation of covering the elections.
It was poor timing that I was in Congo on assignment at the moment when Nkurunziza's party made the (unsurprising) announcement that …
— Read the full piece on the AFP Correspondents blog (ou version française ici)