Burkina Faso soldiers patrol near to the
Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) military barracks on September 29,
2015 in Ouagadougou. (AFP photo)
A
major airport is shut in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou
as soldiers lock down an area around the barracks of an elite unit
involved in a short-lived coup after they refused to disarm.
An
unnamed senior official told AFP news agency said on Tuesday that
Ouagadougou's international flights were cancelled as army surrounded
the camp of Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) responsible for the
September 17 coup.
The source added that the airport would remain shut until further notice.
In
a statement, army chief of staff General Pingrenoma urged the
population to avoid the Ouaga 2000 district where the camp is located
for security reasons.
Interim president Michel Kafando and Prime
Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida were arrested by the elite presidential
guard on September 16. General Gilbert Diendere was quick to take power,
but he resigned a week later under pressure from the West African
regional bloc, Burkina Faso’s military and protesting citizens. Burkina
Faso’s interim President Michel Kafando delivers a statement to the
press at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital, Ouagadougou,
September 23, 2015. (AFP photo)
Kafando , who was formally reinstated last Wednesday, recently issued a decree disbanding the presidential guard.
Furthermore,
judicial authorities in Burkina Faso froze he assets of General
Diendere and 13 others believed to have had a role in the coup. A
protester cuts a branch to be burnt as he and others demonstrate
against the recent coup in Burkina Faso’s capital city of Ouagadougou,
September 22, 2015. (AP photo)The coup took
place just weeks before October 11, the initial date set for general
elections. The vote has been postponed indefinitely.
According to the Burkinabe government, at least 11 people died and 271 were wounded in the violence that ensued the coup. .
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