Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has been arrested by soldiers in a suspected rebellion against his administration.
His arrest was confirmed by two of the mutinous soldiers in a phone call with The Associated Press on Monday, 24th January 2022.
Although they did not disclose the location Kabore is being held, they said he is in a safe place.
Gunshots were heard late Sunday night near the president’s residence and in the early hours of Monday, a battle took place at the presidential palace while a helicopter flew overhead. The roads of the capital were empty Sunday night except for checkpoints heavily guarded by mutinous soldiers.
State news station RTB was heavily guarded on Monday morning.
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Fighting began on Sunday when soldiers took control of the Lamizana Sangoule military barracks in the capital, Ouagadougou. Civilians drove into town in a show of support for the rebellion but were broken up by security forces firing tear gas. The mutiny came a day after a public demonstration calling for Kabore’s resignation, the latest in a series of anti-Kabore protests as anger has mounted over his government’s handling of the Islamic insurgency.
The government has not made any statements since Sunday when Minister of Defense Aime Barthelemy Simpore told state broadcaster RTB that a few barracks had been affected by unrest not only in Ouagadougou but in other cities, too. He denied, however, that the president had been detained by the mutineers, even though Kabore’s whereabouts was unknown.
“Well, it’s a few barracks. There are not too many,” Simpore said.
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