The African Union has threatened Burkina Faso with sanctions unless power was handed over to civilians, and an agreement was reached on a transitional period.
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The coup has been condemned by the United States , former colonial power France and the UN. On Wednesday night, soldiers stormed into one local radio station which was covering protests by youths heading towards the Presidential Palace where Interim President Michel Kafando, Prime Minister Yacoub Isaac Zida and ministers were being held, disrupted the broadcast and burnt some materials.
While gunfire rang out in the streets, Burkina Faso’s military took to the airwaves today (Sept 17) to declare it now controls the West African country, confirming that a coup has taken place just weeks before elections. On Thursday, similar protests left at least six people dead and more than 60 injured.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi met in a hotel with opposition leaders and members of civil society groups.
The White House said Thursday that it “condemns in strongest terms the unconstitutional seizure of power” by the coup leaders.
The Obama administration said in its statement Thursday that it is “deeply disappointed” in the “self-interested actions of a few” threatening the opportunity for the people of Burkina Faso to hold elections and build a new future for their country.
However, coup leaders have named the Presidential Guard’s General Diendere the new head of the transitional council. To this end, the Government of Ghana reiterates the need to uphold the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the immediate and unconditional release of the Transitional President and the Prime Minister as well as the restoration of the transitional process.
Crowds rallied in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second largest city, in the south of the country.
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The decision to free them was made “as a sign of easing tensions and in the general interest”, a statement read on national television said. The coup leaders also announced the dissolution of the interim government and parliament, which had been tasked with leading the political transition in Burkina Faso after Compaore’s ouster in 2014. Compaore was ousted in an uprising last October.
