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The United Nations Security Council on Thursday called on the government of Burundi and the opposition to stop the violence that has resulted in the deaths of at least 240 people while more than 200,000 have fled the landlocked East African nation.

In a unanimous resolution, the UN Security Council condemned the increasing violence in Burundi and stated its intention to explore “additional measures” against actions that threatened peace and stability in the country.

In April this year, President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term, a move the opposition said violated the constitution and a fragile peace accord. President Nkurunziza, who has been in office since 2005, said a court ruling allowed him to contest leading to an eruption in violence. He went ahead to contest in the disputed election and won in July.

UN are drawing up plans for a peacekeeping mission to Burundi, or deployment of a regional force under the African Union if the violence continues.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, whose country chairs the Security Council this month, said, "We know that in the worst case what we are talking about is a possible genocide and we know that we need to do everything that we possibly can to prevent that."

The first genocide in Burundi was the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, as stated by the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented in 2002 to the United Nations Security Council. The Commission also termed the 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the Hutu majority as another Burundian genocide. An estimated 250,000 people were killed in Burundi from the combined conflicts.

Meanwhile, tensions between the same ethnic groups of Hutus and Tutsis led to the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. Between 500,000 and 1 million people were killed in the Rwandan genocide.

“Stressing that the situation prevailing in Burundi has the potential to seriously undermine the significant gains achieved through the Arusha Agreement, with devastating consequences for Burundi and the region as a whole, the Council’s resolution read in part.

The Resolution also mandated the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to update the Security Council within 15 days, present options on the future presence of the United Nations in Burundi and also on what needs to be done on the violations and human rights abuses, especially regarding hatred between different ethnic groups in the society.

After several diplomat efforts by the African Union failed to bring about a resolution to the political crisis, the US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, said a stronger push for political dialogue was "absolutely critical" to resolve differences.