Burkina Faso President Kabore detained at military camp, say sources
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore has been detained at a military camp by mutinying soldiers, four security sources and a West African diplomat said on Monday, following heavy gunfire around his residence on Sunday night in the capital Ouagadougou. His detention comes after sustained gunfire rang out from military camps in the West African country throughout Sunday, with soldiers demanding more support for their fight against Islamist militants. The government had denied that the army had seized power. Kabore has faced waves of street protests in recent months as frustration has mounted over the frequent killing of civilians and soldiers by militants, some of whom have links to Islamic State and al Qaeda.A militant attack in November on a gendarmerie post in Inata, in the northern Soum region, killed 49 military police officers and four civilians. It later emerged the forces stationed there had run out of food and been forced to slaughter animals in the vicinity for two weeks.The turmoil in Burkina Faso comes after successful military putsches over the past 18 months in Mali and Guinea, where the army removed President Alpha Conde last September. The military also took over in Chad last year after President Idriss Deby died on the battlefield there.Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in West Africa despite being a gold producer.Buffeted by street protests, Kabore had pledged in November to end "dysfunction" in the army, saying an inquiry into the Inata attack would be followed by disciplinary measures and that he would launch an anti-corruption drive.Some of the anger in Burkina Faso late last year was also directed against former colonial ruler France, which has deployed thousands of soldiers in West Africa's Sahel region to combat the militants.