Burkina Faso: Tense situation in Ouagadougou, incidents near the French Embassy


OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Gunshots rang out on Saturday near the French embassy that protesters tried to burn down in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou the day after junta leader Paul-Henri Damiba was sacked on Saturday. second putsch in less than a year in the country.

The whereabouts of Paul-Henri Damiba and Captain Ibrahim Traoré, placed at the head of the junta on Friday by the group of officers who already led the January 24 coup, said that he was on a French military base, which was denied by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs according to which France is in no way involved in the “ongoing events”.

“The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy,” said a press release from the Quai d’Orsay.

In a text published on the official Facebook page of the presidency, Paul-Henri Damiba “calls on Captain Traoré and company to come to their senses to avoid a fratricidal war which Burkina Faso does not need in this context”.

He also refutes there having taken refuge in a French base, denouncing “an intoxication to manipulate opinion”.

THE FRENCH EMBASSY TARGETED

Earlier, a Reuters reporter saw the start of a fire at the French embassy in Ouagadougou and heard gunshots near the building.

In Bobo-Dioulasso, other demonstrators favorable to Ibrahim Traoré gathered and threw stones at the French cultural center.

In a press release, the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the violence committed against French diplomatic buildings and called on its nationals to be extremely vigilant.

“The safety of our nationals is a priority. We have sent them instructions calling on them to exercise the greatest vigilance and to stay at home until further notice,” said this press release.

“A crisis unit is open within our embassy and in Paris at the Crisis and Situation Center to monitor the situation. Our teams are mobilized in close collaboration with our nationals.”

Ibrahim Traoré announced on television on Friday the dissolution of the government and the Constitution, as well as the closure of the country’s borders until further notice.

Intense gunfire sounded Friday morning in the capital from the main military camp in the city and some residential areas.

On Saturday, when calm seemed to have returned to Ouagadougou, the shooting and the appearance of the special forces convoy prompted traders to lower the curtain and passers-by to run for cover.

(Report Thiam Ndiaga, French version Marc Angrand and Nicolas Delame)



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