One dead, 60 hurt in Burkina Faso coup violence

17 settembre 2015

2 min di lettura

(AGI/AFP) - Ouagadougou, Sept. 17 -At least one person has diedand some 60 have been injured in coup-related violence inBurkina Faso, medical sources said on Thursday. Burkina Faso'spresidential guard declared a coup on Thursday, a day afterseizing the interim president and senior government members, asthe country prepared for its first elections since theoverthrow of longtime leader Blaise Compaore. The victims havebeen taken with firearm injuries to the main hospital ofOuagadougou. After the arrest of President Michel Kafando,Prime Minister Isaac Zida and two ministers, Colonel MarmadouBamba said in a statement on TV that he had put an end to "thedeviant regime of transition" in the west African state andthat "wide-ranging talks" were being held to form a governmentleading to "inclusive and peaceful elections". Coup memberslater declared as new leader General Gilbert Diendere -Compoare's former Chief of Staff. The president of the interimparliament, Cheriff Sy, confirmed on French radio RFI that itwas "clearly a coup". The European Union, UN and France havecondemned the move and President Francois Hollande called forthe immediate release of all hostages. Tensions are high in thecountry; people have taken to the streets to protest againstthe coup. In the capital Ouagadougou, the military fired shotsin the air to disperse the crowd gathered in IndependenceSquare. There were barricades and demonstrations in othercities as well. Many shops remained closed in Bobo-Dioulasso,the second city of Burkina Faso, where witnesses said that thehouse of a member of the CDP, Compoare's party, was burneddown. In Banfora, 100 kilometres south-west of Bobo-Dioulassoand close to Ivory Coast, inhabitants erected barricades toparalyse traffic. The same scenes could be seen inFada-N'Gourma near the border with Niger, where locals blockedtraffic and removed the flags from administrative buildings.Shops were closed in Ouahigouya and Tenkodogo as well, asprotesters set up a city committee against the coup and for thedefence of democracy.. .