Celebrations erupted in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Monday evening after the army said it had ousted the President. The announcement on state television also said that Roch Kabore’s government had been dissolved, the Constitution suspended and the West African country’s borders closed.
It was made in the name of a previously unheard of entity, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, and was said to have been signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The statement cited the deterioration of the security situation and what the army described as Kabore’s inability to unite the country.
It added that the takeover had been carried out without violence and that those detained were in a secure location. Kabore has not been seen since heavy gunfire erupted from several military camps on Sunday (January 23). On Monday morning bullet-ridden armored vehicles of the presidential fleet could be seen outside his residence. One was stained with blood.
Kabore had faced waves of protests in recent months amid frustration over the killing of civilians and soldiers by militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
Soldiers mutinying on Sunday were said to be demanding more support in their fight against the insurgents. As the sunset on Ouagadougou’s Place de la Nation, resident Mahamadi Ouedraogo claimed that most people support the military and said were relieved that Kabore was no longer President.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS have all condemned the move by the military to urged it to ensure Kabore’s safety.
Source: Reuters
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