Tension As Burkina Faso Soldiers Announce Military Takeover On Live TV, Suspends Constitution [Video]

Soldiers in Burkina Faso on Monday announced on state television that they have seized power in the West African country following a mutiny over the civilian president’s failure to contain an Islamist insurgency.

A junior officer announced the suspension of the constitution, the dissolution of the government and parliament, and the closure of the country’s borders from midnight Monday, reading from a statement signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

He said the new Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR) would re-establish “constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”, adding that a nationwide nightly curfew would be enforced.

Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the military coup in Ouagadougou, welcoming soldiers, honking car horns, and waving the national flag.

The army broadcast came after two days of chaos and terror in the capital, Ouagadougou, where soldiers demanded additional backing for their war against Islamist extremists, and shooting erupted at army camps on Sunday.

Kabore’s whereabouts were unknown on Monday after heavy gunfire was heard overnight in the area surrounding his home.