UN Security Council calls for peaceful solution to Burundian crisis

Boys walk behind patrolling soldiers in Bujumbura, Burundi, May 15, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council on Friday voiced its "serious concern" at the ongoing tensions and unrest in Burundi, and "stressed the urgent need for dialogue and reconciliation among all Burundians to resolve the current crisis in a peaceful, transparent and inclusive manner."

"The members of the Security Council called on all parties to exercise restraint, not to resort to violence or retaliatory attacks, to settle disputes peacefully and to prioritize Burundi's peace and stability above all else and in the best interests of the nation," the 15-nation UN body said in a statement issued to the press here.

Burundi was plunged into chaos Wednesday as former head of Burundi's National Intelligence Major General Godefroid Niyombare announced in a radio station that the army had overthrown the president and stakeholders were working on a transitional government.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 105,000 people have fled Burundi to neighboring Tanzania, Rwanda and to the province of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.