OUAGADOUGOU: Gunfire broke out at several army barracks in Burkina Faso on Sunday and internet connections were disrupted, prompting fears of a coup in the notoriously volatile west African state which the government quickly denied.
The unrest comes a little over week after 12 people, including a senior army officer, were arrested on suspicion of planning to “destabilise institutions” the country, which has been rocked by a seven-year jihadist insurgency.
Residents in the Gounghin district in the west of the capital Ouagadougou reported heavy gunfire at the Sangoule Lamizana camp and military prison where an ousted army general is being held.
“Since 1 am, gunfire has been heard here in Gounghin coming from the Sangoule Lamizana camp,” a soldier in the area.
Local inhabitants said soldiers had come out of the barracks firing in the air and sealed off the area around it.
Shots were heard at the Baby Sy barracks in the south of the capital as well as at an air base near the airport, which was also sealed off by soldiers in balaclavas, according to local residents. There was also gunfire at barracks in the northern towns of Kaya and Ouahigouya, residents there said. Meanwhile, mobile internet services were down on Sunday.
President Roch Marc Kabore’s government swiftly denied that there had been a coup.
“Information on social media would have people believe there was an army takeover,” government spokesman Alkassoum Maiga said in a statement. “The government, while acknowledging that there was gunfire in some barracks, denies this information and calls on the public to remain calm.”
Defence Minister General Barthelemy Simpore said on nationwide TV that “none of the Republic’s institutions has been troubled at the present moment”.
He added that there were “localised, limited” incidents “in a few barracks,” and that he was investigating.
Police fired tear gas to break up a rally by around 100 people who gathered at a square in central Ouagadougou to show support for the soldiers’ revolt, a correspondent at the scene reported. – AFP
