· Burkina faso is ranked among the poorest in the world, and has been highly volatile since gaining independence from France in 1960.
· Exchanges of gunfires have been reported from multiple army barracks in Burkina Faso on 23rd January.
Burkina faso is ranked among the poorest in the world, and has been highly volatile since gaining independence from France in 1960. Exchanges of gunfires have been reported from multiple army barracks in Burkina Faso on 23rd January. The Burkina government has denied that the claim that military had seized control of the state. The government acknowledged that there was gunfire in some barracks, but denied the news of a military take over circulating in the social media and called on the public to remain calm
Sangoule Lamizana camp, Baby Sy barracks, barracks in the northern towns of Kaya and Ouahigouya are some of the camps where the gunshots were heard. The Sangoule Lamizana camp is a military prison where General Gilbert Diendere, a former supporter of the deposed president Blaise Compaore is serving a 20-year term for an attempted coup in 2015. He has been alleged of partaking in the 1987 assassination of the country’s revolutionary leader, Thomas Sankara.
Defence Minister General Barthelemy Simpore addressed on nationwide TV and assured that none of the Republic’s institutions has been troubled though there were localised incidents in some barracks.
Burkina has been facing jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali. More than 2,000 people have died, and around 1.5 million people displaced, according to the national emergency agency CONASUR. Public anger at President Roch Marc Christian Kabore’s failure to stem the bloodshed has risen. Several hundred people marched through downtown Ouagadougou demanding his resignation.
