Tribal gunmen and militia groups have been involved in fierce clashes with Shia Houthi rebels

How the government’s youth wing, a purportedly peaceful group of former fighters and government loyalists, has pushed the country to the brink of war.

BY JESSICA HATCHER-JUNE 29, 2015

BUJUMBURA, Burundi — The body of Leonidas Musago, 29, lay still in the middle of an unpaved backstreet of Nyakabiga, a district of Burundi’s capital of Bujumbura on the morning of May 7. From a distance, his body looked like one of the protestors’ many roadblocks made from blackened logs that for weeks had prevented vehicles from entering or exiting much of the city. Musago had been stoned to death by an angry mob, his body then burned. Blood trickled from a head wound, and his corpse — only partially burned after the mob quickly extinguished the fire — lay charred in the dirt.

Tribal Gunmen and Militia Groups Have Been Involved in Fierce Clashes With Shia Houthi Rebels by Thavam Ratna