“Episodes of violence and explosions preceded, and in some cases accompanied election day activities, mostly in Bujumbura“, said the nine-page report.
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Burundi has been hit by violence since President Pierre Nkurunziza chose to seek a third term.
Yesterday, at least six people were killed, including a policeman, during clashes in the capital Bujumbura’s Cibitoke district, an opposition area that has been one of the heartlands of protests against Nkurunziza.
Parliamentary and local elections were held on Monday despite an appeal by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to postpone the polls after months of turmoil.
An AFP reporter who later entered the area after the shooting had ended saw the bodies of six people killed, including a moneychanger in his sixties and his two sons, shot in the head.
Monday’s polls kickstarted a series of elections, with presidential polls due on July 15 followed by senatorial elections on July 24.
The US said in its statement that it is suspending all global law enforcement and anti-terrorism assistance training to Burundi’s law enforcement agencies.
The US called on President Nkurunziza to place the welfare of Burundi’s citizens above his own political ambitions and participate in dialogue with the opposition to find a peaceful solution to the nation’s political crisis.
From its arrival on January 1, the mission said it observed media freedom restrictions and violations of human rights and other fundamental freedoms including restrictions on opposition campaigning, arbitrary detentions, and the failure to disarm youth groups aligned with political parties. Opponents say the president’s attempt to stand again violates the constitution.
It said the government’s decision to push ahead with June 29 parliamentary elections despite the “complete absence” of the necessary conditions for free and fair elections has “exacerbated an already dire situation”. Some 140,000 people have fled Burundi to neighboring countries.
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New Zealand s Ambassador Gerard Jacobus van Bohemen, who holds this month s presidency of the Security Council, said the 15 members “expressed concern that the minimum conditions for free, fair, transparent and credible elections were not met”.
