Soldiers mutiny in Burkina Faso, government dismisses talk of coup

Soldiers mutiny in Burkina Faso, government dismisses talk of coup

OUAGADOUGOU--Sustained gunfire rang out from military camps in Burkina Faso on Sunday as mutinying soldiers demanded more support for their fight against Islamist militants and protesters ransacked the headquarters of President Roch Kabore's political party.


The government called for calm, denying speculation on social media that the army had seized power or detained Kabore. Late on Sunday, it decreed a curfew from 2000 GMT to 0530 GMT until further notice, and issued another statement suspending schools on Monday and Tuesday for security reasons.
A spokesperson for the government said separately that talks were ongoing with the mutinying soldiers. A spokesperson for the mutineers said they were demanding "appropriate" resources and training for the army in its fight against militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State and the resignation of the army and intelligence chiefs.
Frustration in the West African gold producing country has grown in recent months over deteriorating security. The deaths of 49 military police in a militant attack in November prompted violent protests calling for Kabore to step down.
Demonstrators in the streets of the capital Ouagadougou on Sunday urged the soldiers to go further, chanting "Free the country!"
The mutiny underlines the threat posed by growing Islamist insurgencies across West Africa's Sahel region, a semi-arid strip of land beneath the Sahara Desert. The militants have seized control of swathes of territory across Burkina Faso and its neighbours, Mali and Niger. In some cases, they force residents to abide by their harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
Heavy gunfire was first heard around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday at Ouagadougou's Sangoule Lamizana camp, which houses a prison whose inmates include soldiers involved in a failed 2015 coup attempt, Reuters reporters said.
Hundreds of people later came out in support of the mutineers. At the Lamizana camp, where a crowd of about 100 sang the national anthem and chanted, the soldiers responded by firing into the air. It was not clear whether this was to show support for the demonstrators or to disperse them.
In downtown Ouagadougou, near the Place de la Nation, police fired teargas to disperse around 300 protesters. Soldiers also fired into the air at an air base close to Ouagadougou International Airport, according to Reuters reporters. The U.S. embassy also reported gunfire at three other military bases in Ouagadougou and at bases in the northern towns of Kaya and Ouahigouya.
Elsewhere in Ouagadougou, protesters burned and looted the headquarters of Kabore's People's Movement for Progress (MPP), a Reuters reporter said.

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