Pierre Nkurunziza says arrival of 5,000 peacekeepers after months of violence would be seen as attack on country and violation of its borders

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, has threatened to fight any African Union (AU) peacekeepers imposed on his country in his most confrontational comments yet amid a mounting political crisis.

The AU said this month it was ready to send 5,000 peacekeepers to protect civilians caught up in months of violence, invoking for the first time powers to intervene in a member state against its will.

“Everyone has to respect Burundi borders,” Nkurunziza said on Wednesday in comments broadcast on state radio.

Could the UN have done more to prevent Burundi's escalating violence? Read more

“In case they violate those principles, they will have attacked the country and every Burundian will stand up and fight against them … The country will have been attacked and it will respond,” he said, in his first public response to the AU plan.

Other government officials have already said any peacekeepers arriving without Burundi’s permission would violate its sovereignty.

More than 220,000 people have fled since the crisis erupted in April, triggered by Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term.

Opposition groups took to the streets saying he was violating constitutional term limits. But he pointed to a court order allowing his campaign and was re-elected in a disputed July vote.

A failed coup, continued clashes and gun attacks in the central African state have unsettled a region where memories of the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda are still raw.