Burundi: Outside Powers Warn Of Spiraling Conflict
November 13, 2015

The United Nations, African Union and European Union all warned on Nov. 12 that political violence in Burundi is threatening to spiral into a full-scale regional ethnic conflict, Reuters reported. The U.N. Security Council adopted a French-drafted resolution on contingency planning to enable an international response to any further escalation in Burundi, asking Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon to prepare options for boosting the U.N. and African Union presence in the country. On Nov. 13, the EU mission in Burundi began reducing staff and sending family members home, while Belgium advised its citizens in the country to leave. At least 240 people have reportedly been killed and tens of thousands more have fled the landlocked country since April, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would run for another term.

Violence in Burundi Raises Fears of Ethnic Conflict Elsewhere
Violence is once again rising in Burundi, and as the death toll mounts, the country's neighbors are becoming increasingly concerned that the conflict could spill across their borders. Several international organizations have even expressed fears that Burundi's political turmoil could spark broader ethnic strife throughout an already restive region. But these dire predictions probably will not come to pass, since Burundi's leaders - and its watchful neighbors - have every incentive to keep the bloodshed in check.

Please keep this little nation of East Africa and the wider region in prayer. In the 1990s, it and especially its neighboring nation of Rwanda experienced the full horror of ethnic conflict and genocide. Pray that such a thing will be kept from happening again and for God's peace to reign in Burundi and the whole region.