Gunshots heard near Burkina Faso's presidency

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Shots were heard Friday morning around Burkina Faso's presidential palace and the headquarters of its military junta, which seized power in a coup last January, witnesses told AFP.

Several roads in the capital Ouagadougou were blocked by troops and state television was cut off, broadcasting a blank screen saying "no video signal", AFP journalists said.

“I heard loud bangs around 4:30 a.m. (0430 GMT) and now the roads around my house have been cordoned off with military vehicles,” a resident who lives near the palace told AFP. presidential.

Troops were stationed at the main intersections of the city, particularly in the Ouaga 2000 district which houses the headquarters of the presidential and military junta, but also in front of the headquarters of the state television, said a journalist from the 'AFP.

Burkina Faso is currently ruled by a junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

He seized power in a January coup, toppling elected leader Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who failed to stem a jihadist insurgency. But the security situation has not improved.

On Monday, suspected jihadists attacked a convoy in the north of the country. The government said 11 soldiers were dead and around 50 civilians were missing.

More than 40% of the country, a former French colony, escapes government control.

Thousands of people have died and an estimated two million have been displaced by fighting since 2015, when the insurgency spread to Burkina Faso.

Much of the Sahel region is battling the insurgency, which has also spread to Niger. In recent years, violence has begun to spread in the coastal states of Côte d'Ivoire and Togo.

AFP