The rebels demand more means from the Government to fight against jihadist terrorism, according to local media
A group of soldiers takes up positions in front of the state television headquarters
the president of Burkina Faso, Roch Kabore, has been arrested by military in an apparent coup, as confirmed to the Efe agency on Monday by a high command of the Army of this West African country.
“They arrested him at his home and took him to a barracks” in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, said the source, who requested anonymity.
The arrest occurred after the day of tension that Burkina Faso experienced this Sunday, where shots were fired at various military barracks in an alleged riot to demand improvements in the Armed Forces.
According to the aforementioned source, the authorities held last night, when shots were heard near the presidential residence, negotiations with the mutineers that seem to have failed.
Soldiers have taken up positions in front of the RTB state television headquarters and the rebels are expected to make a statement throughout the day to reveal his intentions, local media reported.
calls to calm
The arrest also took place after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expressed in a statement last midnight its “major concern“because of the riot on Sunday, I asked”Calm down” and urge the military to favor “the dialogue with the authorities.”
The statement was published after the Burkinabe government imposed a nightly curfew on Sunday after the riot.
The Government of Kaboré (president of Burkina Faso since the end of 2015) thus sought to maintain control of the situation in the country, after a day that began with fears of riot as a result of the shots heard at dawn in several Army barracks.
The Executive denied on Sunday that it was an attempted coup and, in a television interview, Defense Minister General Aimé Barthélémy Simporé assured that “no public institution” had been “disturbed.”
Although the reasons for the shooting were not officially confirmed, local media indicated that it was a riot to demand improvements from the Government, including more means to fight the jihadist terrorism (of which Burkina Faso troops are routinely targeted), and the resignation of senior military and intelligence officials.
Coup military
One of the affected centers is a camp that houses military prisoners detained for an attempted coup in 2015, including Gilbert Diendéré (one of former President Blaise Compaoré’s strongmen).
During the day, there were popular rallies in support of the Army in the capital, Ouagadougou, among other incidents.
A headquarters of the ruling party, the People’s Movement for Progress (MPP).
This same month there had already been 15 arrests in Burkina Faso (ten soldiers and five civilians) in relation to an alleged coup attempt.
Last Saturday, the country experienced a new day of unauthorized demonstrations, convened by civil society groups to express the great social discontent due to insecurity generated by the jihadist violence and the lack of results from the Government when it comes to tackling this problem.
Related news
Jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso are often attributed to groups affiliated with the terrorist network Al Qaeda and to the organization Islamic State (IS), especially in the northern Sahel region, but has spread to neighboring regions and, since 2018, to the east of the country.
Insecurity has caused the number of displaced inmates amounts to just over 1.5 million, according to data from the Burkina Faso government.