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A young girls stands in the doorway of a house, two days after a member of her family was killed by a grenade said to be launched by a member of Séléka. Bangui, Central African Republic. Nov. 14, 2013.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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Demonstrators gather on a street to call for the resignation of interim president Michel Djotodia, who led Séléka into the capital months earlier, following the murder of a judge by members of the rebel coalition. A half hour after this picture was made, Séléka members shot into the crowd, killing two and wounding another. Bangui, Central African Republic. Nov. 17, 2013.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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A Christian man destroys burnt out cars in rage, next to a looted mosque that had been set ablaze. Bangui, Central African Republic. Dec. 10, 2013.William Daniels—Panos
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A soldier from the national army, wounded in fighting with Séléka rebels, waits to be treated at the Community Hospital. Bangui, Central African Republic. Jan. 31, 2014.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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National army soldiers mourn the death of a colleague, who was killed by members of Séléka. Bangui, Central African Republic. Nov. 16, 2013. Correction: The original version of this caption misstated the year the photograph was taken.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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Anti-balaka fighters are seen in the bush between Bossangoa and Bossembelé. Central African Republic. Nov. 21, 2013.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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Between Bossembelé and Zawa Part of a group of several hundred of Anti-Balaka militias return from an attack on a Peul (Fulani - a Muslim tribe) village. Jan. 30, 2014.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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Relatives mourn the death of two men and one woman who had just been slaughtered amid accusations they were anti-balaka. The woman was killed as "collateral damage” according to a Séléka colonel who admitted the killing. Gulinga, Central African Republic. April 14, 2014.William Daniels—Panos
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A man accused of robbery is detained at the police station and was about to be killed. Bangui, Central African Republic. April 18, 2014.William Daniels—Panos
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A woman cries after the death of her 23-year-old daughter, who was said to be killed by a grenade launched in her courtyard by a member of Séléka. Bangui, Central African Republic. Nov. 14, 2013.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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About 40,000 displaced people, many of them Christians who left their village attacked by the Séléka, took refuge in and around a cathedral. Bossangoa, Central African Republic. Nov. 19, 2013.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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A relative cries over the death of a soldier shot to death by Séléka the night before. Bangui, Central African Republic. Nov. 16, 2013.William Daniels—Panos for TIME
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A morgue workers prepares a body for funeral after a deadly bout of street violence between Séléka and anti-balaka. Bangui, Central African Republic. Dec. 16, 2013.William Daniels—Panos
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Relatives attending a funeral touch the coffin of a judge who was said to be killed by Séléka fighters. Bangui, Central African Republic. Nov. 29, 2013.William Daniels—Panos
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French troops attempt to save a Muslim man who was attacked by Christians while he was in jail, after having been accused of being a member of Séléka responsible for many executions. Bangui, Central African Republic. Jan. 22, 2014.William Daniels—Panos
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An overhead scene of the makeshift camp near Bangui's main airport that would grow to more than 100,000 people at its peak. They had fled fighting between Séléka and anti-balaka, and felt more secure with French forces at the entrance. Bangui, Central African Republic. Jan. 29, 2014.William Daniels—Panos
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A makeshift camp near Bangui's main airport would grow to hold more than 100,000 people at its peak in late 2013 and early 2014. They had fled fighting between Séléka and anti-balaka, and felt more secure with French forces at the entrance. Bangui, Central African Republic. Dec. 8, 2013.William Daniels—Panos
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Internally displaced persons wait in line for food. Bangui, Central African Republic. Dec. 9, 2013.William Daniels—Panos
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A woman cooks in the hospital coumpound. Bambari, Central African Republic. Sept. 24, 2014.William Daniels—Panos for Al Jazeera America
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Peuhl children suffer from malnutrition and diarrhea in the enclave. Boda, Central African Republic. April 4, 2014.William Daniels—Panos for Al Jazeera America
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The remains of houses burnt by Seleka forces, between Bozoum and Bossemptele. Central African Republic. Jan. 30, 2014.William Daniels—Panos
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A man at the Ndassima gold mine, which was run by Aurafrique, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Axmin, before Seleka rebels managed to take over the site. Central African Republic, Sept. 23, 2014.William Daniels—Panos for Al Jazeera America
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Former child soldiers play war games as part of their rehabilitation work. The UNICEF psychologist looking after them said such activities help them to deal with their past. Central African Republic. Dec. 3, 2013. Correction: The original version of this caption misstated the year the photograph was taken.William Daniels—Panos
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Fishermen on the Oubangui river early in the morning. Hundreds were killed in the capital a year earlier. Bangui, Central African Republic. Dec. 5, 2014. Correction: The original version of this caption misstated when hundreds of people were killed in Bangui. It was in 2013.William Daniels—Panos
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An alter boy prepares for mass at a church where the priest offered refuge to a large group of Muslims who were being targeted by anti-balaka. Boali, Central African Republic. Jan. 26, 2014.William Daniels—Panos
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Hamadou Magazi, an elder, has tuberculoses and cannot leave the enclave to be treated. Boda, Central African Republic. April 3, 2014.William Daniels—Panos for Al Jazeera America
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A wounded Muslim man lies on the ground after being attacked by dozen of angry Christians, who claimed he was a member of Séléka. He is protected by African and French soldiers but will later die from his wounds before a medic arrives. Bangui, Central African Republic. Jan. 22, 2014.William Daniels—Panos
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Bodies of Christians, mostly anti-balaka, lay in a street on the day after a major attack in several areas of the capital. Bangui, Central African Republic. Dec. 27, 2013.William Daniels—Panos
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Malouloud Mahamat Amat, 30, walks in his former compound in the 5Kilo area. He lost 8 members of his family in March. He is the only one of the family who stayed in the capital. Bangui, Central African Republic. Sept, 20, 2014.William Daniels—Panos for Al Jazeera America
The mob knew where to go, says Associated Press photographer Jerome Delay. “They went straight to his house, found him, and started beating him up with sticks and stones.”
On Thursday, in Bujumbura, Burundi, Jean Claude Niyonzima, a man suspected of being a member of ruling party’s Imbonerakure youth militia, came close to being lynched.
Since April 25, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would seek a third term in office, the Great Lakes country has been the scene of violent protests. Burundi’s constitution says the president should be elected by universal direct suffrage for a mandate of five years, renewable one time, according to the Associated Press.
The protests remain localized, said Delay, taking place mostly in strongholds of the opposition, but “they are spreading,” he tells TIME. “There have been attempts by small groups to hit the [city’s] business district, but they were quickly repressed. Protesters have blocked streets with barricades. There is a strong police presence throughout, with the military acting as a buffer between police and protesters.”
But the protesters are getting more organized, and the police is now running out of tear gas. “They have started using live bullets,” said Delay, who received a call Thursday morning from a colleague, freelance photographer Phil Moore, that trouble was brewing.
In the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura, a dead protester laid in a pool of blood—he had been shot in the head. “Many soldiers came to the scene,” said Delay. “They were being yelled at by protesters who felt they had failed to protect them.” A mob formed and started marching. And that’s when they reached Jean Claude Niyonzima’s house.
“The attack was a flashback to scenes I had witnessed in Bangui last year,” said the photographer, who covered the violent conflict in Central African Republic in 2013 and 2014. “The zero tolerance for the other, the rage of revenge after one of yours was killed. They must have known where to go. They went straight to his house.”
Niyonzima tried to escape several times—cornered between two buildings, begging for his life, the entire scene felt like an interrogation, said Delay. “He was grabbed, kicked, hit, stoned, but still he had the survival strength to flee into a wide sewer under a hail of stone.”
Then, the army rushed in, firing shots in the air to disperse the crowd. “The soldiers pulled him out of the sewers and kept his assailants at bay,” Delay said. But it only took a minute for the protestors to find another victim, just a few meters up the street. A still unidentified man was beaten and left for dead.
“Where this will go is anyone’s guess,” said Delay. “Members of the civil society have asked protesters to refrain from mounting such attacks, but I’ve just learned that a man was burned to death elsewhere in town.”
Mikko Takkunen, who edited this photo essay, is an Associate Photo Editor at TIME. Follow him on Twitter @photojournalism.
Olivier Laurent is the Editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent
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