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Burundi activist injured in shooting

August 4, 2015

A well-known human rights activist in Burundi has been seriously injured after being shot at by men on motorcycles. The shooting comes on the heels of General Adolphe Nshimirimana's assassination.

https://p.dw.com/p/1G9El
Burundi Proteste Pierre Claver Mbonimpa
Image: AFP/Getty Images/C. de Souza

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, president of the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH), was seriously injured when gunmen on motorcycles shot at the human rights defender on Monday.

"He was going home when suddenly a group of motorcyclists encircled him and started shooting at him. Many of the bikers had guns," reported Reuters news agency, citing a relative of Mbonimpa.

An outspoken critic of President Pierre Nkurunziza, the 64-year-old Mbonimpa has been arrested multiple times, spending four and half months in jail in 2014.

The news of the shooting comes on the heels of General Adolphe Nshimirimana's assassination on Sunday.

Nshimirimana, a close aide to President Nkurunziza, was widely seen as the country's de facto head of domestic security.

Burundi has witnessed a wave of violence since April, when Nkurunziza announced he would be seeking a controversial third term in office.

Nkurunziza was declared the winner of the July 21 election with 69 percent of the vote.

However, the election was widely criticized by the international community.

ls/cmk (AP, AFP, Reuters)