The soldiers reportedly belong to the Presidential Security Regiment on Wednesday interrupted a cabinet meeting in Burkina Faso detaining Kafando, Prime Minister Isaac Zida, and arrested several ministers.
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Despite constitutional limits introduced in 2005, the country’s legislature was going to assess a proposed amendment that would allow Mr Compaore to run for re-election in the following month.
The unrest comes days before the country’s first election since the ouster of Mr. Compaore, a former military officer and civilian president, who was forced out by popular uprising in 2014 after holding power for 27 years.
A curfew is in place across the country from 7pm (8pm BST) until 6am tomorrow and land and air borders have been closed.
The coup leaders had been prompted to act, he said, by the “serious pre-election security situation” ahead of presidential and legislative elections due on October . 11.
At least three people have been killed and 60 injured during street clashes in Burkina Faso’s capital as protesters demonstrated against a military coup, a senior source in the main hospital has said.
Transitional parliamentary speaker Cheriff Sy called for people to “immediately rise up” against the coup, and declared himself the leader of the West African state.
Media reports said that the guards fired gunshots Wednesday to disperse demonstrators near the presidential palace who were gathering to condemn their actions.
Speaking on state TV and radio early Thursday before a blue background, Lt. Col. Mamadou Bamba said the country’s transitional government was dissolved and the interim president was no longer in power.
Head of Burkina Faso’s presidential guard Gilbert Diendere waits for his chauffeur to arrive after the swearing-in ceremony of newly named President Michel Kafondo in Ouagadougou November 21, 2014.
There was a coup in Burkina Faso on Thursday morning.
The RSP’s political meddling after Compaore’s ousting, including attempts to force the prime minister’s resignation over his plans to reduce its size, provoked further protests and prompted authorities to call for a review of the guard’s role.
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The move was condemned by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the White House, the African Union, the regional West African community, ECOWAS, and the former colonial power, France.
