OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Gunshots rang out Sunday morning in several military camps in Burkina Faso, the government said, but denied rumors of a military takeover.
Heavy weapon fire was observed in the Sangoule Lamizana camp, in the capital Ouagadougou, which houses the army headquarters and a prison whose detainees are soldiers involved in a coup attempt. missing in 2015.
According to a Reuters reporter, gunshots could be heard as early as 05:00 and soldiers were seen firing into the air in the camp. A witness also reported shooting at a barracks in Kaya, about 100 km north of Ouagadougou.
The government confirmed that shots had been fired in some camps but denied reports, broadcast on social networks, according to which the army had taken power.
“Information on social networks suggests a takeover by the army. The government, while confirming fire on certain barracks, denies this information and calls on the population to calm down,” said the spokesman for the executive. , Alkassoum Maiga, in a statement.
Governments in West and Central Africa are on high alert after coups over the past 18 months in Mali and Guinea. The army also took power in Chad last year after the death of President Idriss Deby on the battlefield.
Burkinabe authorities arrested a dozen soldiers on suspicion of plotting against the government earlier this month.
The arrests followed a turmoil in the general staff in December, which some analysts interpreted as an attempt by President Roch Kabor to bolster his support within the army.
The resurgence of violent actions carried out by Islamist militants linked to Al-Qada and the Islamic State in Burkina Faso caused the death of more than 2,000 people last year and sparked violent demonstrations in November calling for the resignation of the president.
Additional protests were planned for Saturday, but the government banned them and police moved in to disperse hundreds of people trying to gather in Ouagadougou.
Among the detainees at Sangoule Lamizana prison is General Gilbert Diendere, who was a key ally of Burkina Faso’s former president Blaise Compaor, who was ousted in an uprising in 2014.
After leading a failed coup attempt the following year against the transitional government, Gilbert Diendere was sentenced in 2019 to 20 years in prison.
(Report Thiam Ndiaga and Anne Mimault, with Ange Aboa, French version Benjamin Mallet)