File Photo: A protester in Burundi wears a gas mask

The United States has urged East African states to send high-level representatives to Burundi to reiterate their opposition to President Pierre Nkurunziza third term bid and to press for free and fair elections.

State Department spokesman, John Kirby, said the U.S. opposed Nkurunziza’s decision to run for another term.

His ambition is in breach of the Arusha agreement that brought an end to the country’s civil war in 2005.

“The United States … encourages high-level visits from Burundi’s neighbors to Burundi to reiterate the importance of upholding the Arusha Agreement.

“The U.S also encourages ensuring the conditions necessary for free, fair, and credible elections are in place,” Kirby said in a statement.

More than 11,000 Burundians—about one percent of the country’s population—have already fled across the border for fear violence will spread outside the capital.

Kirby said Washington supported the outcome of a summit of African leaders in Tanzania on Sunday which called for a delay of at least a month and a half in the poll.

The summit of the East African Community included Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, and was joined by South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma.

Nkurunziza’s decision has triggered the worst crisis in the small African country since 2005.

It has raised concerns his desire could reignite ethnic violence. His opponents say he is violating the constitution, while supporters say a constitutional court ruling allows him to run.