Military seizes power in Burkina Faso, dissolves Government

It’s unclear where the guards took the President, Prime Minister Isaac Zida and the other officials.

It was impossible to immediately verify whether the shots were live rounds or whether they had wounded any of the several hundred protesters gathering near the palace to condemn the presidential guard’s actions.

On Monday the country’s National Reconciliation and Reforms Commission had recommended that the 1,300-man force, considered the landlocked country’s best troops, be disbanded.

Burkina Faso’s military yesterday said it had stripped Kafando of his functions and dissolved the government, seizing power in a coup.

Mr Compaore was himself forced to resign in October 2014 by a popular uprising sparked by his bid to prolong his rule.

Hours later, the coup leaders announced that a military general and former aide to the former longtime president now leads Burkina Faso.

The coup leaders have imposed a night-time curfew across the West African state, and have ordered the closure of land and air borders.

Jeff Smith, the Africa Policy Director at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, stated that “today’s events in Burkina Faso, which comes almost one year after last October’s mass protests, may very likely be the result of the recent shake-up within the country’s presidential security”.

Transitional parliamentary speaker Cheriff Sy said the move was “clearly a coup”.

They had been prompted to act, he said, by the “serious pre-election security situation” ahead of new month’s presidential and legislative polls, in which Kafando’s regime had barred figures close to Compaore from standing. Coup members later declared General Gilbert Diendéré the new leader until “inclusive and peaceful” elections can be held.

The United States condemned “in the strongest terms” Thursday a coup in Burkina Faso and warned that it would reassess its assistance to the troubled West African nation.

“This incident is a flagrant violation of Burkina Faso’s constitution and transitional charter”, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

Burkinabe is a demonym of the former French colony.

Last year, Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore bowed to massive street protests calling on him to resign.