Burundi’s presidency has “taken note” of the appeal by regional leaders and has instructed the “competent technical services” to implement the recommendation, according to a statement published on its website on Thursday.
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“We are meeting today to consider a reaction”, presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho told Reuters, saying the meeting would include government officials and the CENI election commission.
Since protests first erupted in Burundi in April over Nkurunziza’s plan for a third-term bid, over 70 people have reportedly been killed, while tens of thousands of others have fled to neighboring countries.
Burundi is still in crisis after President Pierre Nkurunziza turned down calls to postpone elections in which the opposition says he is violating the constitution by presenting himself as a candidate.
“The armed group entered from Rwanda and attacked very early yesterday morning”, said Canisius Ndayimanisha, governor of Kayanza province.
General Leonard Ngendakumana, who was sacked from his intelligence post in February after helping write a report for the president advising him not to run again, said that he and fellow coup leaders still had the “aim” of removing the president.
The African nations had sought a delay until July 30 to give time for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to try to mediate between the opposing groups.
A Burundian government spokesman said the relevant electoral bodies had been instructed to prepare for the delay to the poll, but pointed to the constitutional end to the president’s term on July 26 as a red line.
The assault has been claimed by rebel Burundian army soldiers that attempted but failed to topple Nkurunziza in a coup in mid-May. They also urged steps including disarming youth groups linked to political parties. “Peaceful protests have been met with unwarranted use of force, including lethal force, in violation of Burundi’s obligation under national and worldwide law to guarantee the right to freedom of assembly”, Colville continued.
One of the poorest countries in the world, the small Central African nation shares both a history of ethnic strife and a border with Rwanda, the scene of a genocide in 1994.
Many in Burundi that fled in the past weeks feared the eruption of ethnic violence similar to what occurred during the country’s 12-year civil war that ended in 2005.
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The Rwandan foreign minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, denied her country was involved in Friday’s clashes.
