Mutinous soldiers in Burkina Faso staged a revolt in several army bases on Sunday to demand the departure of the country’s army chiefs and more resources to fight militant Islamists, reported Reuters.
Gunfire was heard near the presidential palace in Burkina Faso’s capital as well as at several barracks in Ouagadougou. Hundreds of people came out to publicly support the mutineers protesting over the government’s handling of the jihadist threat set fire to the headquarters of the ruling party.
The Burkina Faso government dismissed rumors of a new coup attempt, just over a week after 11 soldiers were detained for allegedly plotting a coup. It is the latest sign of growing discontent with President Roch Kaboré’s government over its failure to quell the Islamist insurgency that has devastated the West African state since 2015.
On Saturday, several hundred people marched through Ouagadougou chanting for President Kabore to resign.
Anger among the public sparked back in November when gunmen affiliated with Al Qaeda killed 49 military policemen and four civilians in an attack near a gold mine in Inata town. The people were outraged by reports that the army troops had gone without food supply for two weeks.
According to the United Nations, at least 12,000 people were displaced in Burkina Faso within two weeks in December.
Defense Minister Aime Barthelemy Simpore told state broadcaster RTB that the unrest on Sunday affected only a few barracks in the capital of Ouagadougou and some other cities. He denied, however, that the president had been detained by the mutinous soldiers, even though Kabore’s whereabouts remained unknown. Mr. Kabore, a former banker and prime minister, became president after winning elections in 2015.
Gen Simpore urged people to continue with their normal activities, saying the government would release further information in due course.
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said that access to the web had been disrupted.
