Soldiers from Burkina Faso’s second largest military base took to the streets of the country’s economic capital on Tuesday night firing shots into the air, said witnesses.
The military base in Bobo Dioulasso had been the only barracks to not have joined nationwide mutinies that have dragged on for months.
“They gathered at about 9.30pm [GMT and local] and 15 minutes later left through the main gate firing into the air,” said a witness.
A resident told Agence France-Presse that 80 to 100 soldiers armed with Kalashnikov rifles surrounded local government buildings in the south-western city.
“There wasn’t any looting,” said an officer who added that everything was over by midnight.
Mutinies in other cities have often been accompanied by looting of businesses and state buildings.
President Blaise Compaore, in power since 1987, has since February been confronted with an unprecedented wave of unrest, marked by social protests as well as military mutinies.
Discontent persists in the army of this poor, landlocked West African state despite a range of financial benefits that have been granted to troops in the past few weeks. — AFP