Gunshots were heard at several barracks located in the capital, Ouagadougou. The government denied social media reports that the army has seized power.
Heavy gunfire rang out from military camps in Burkina Faso, including two in the capital Ouagadougou early on Sunday morning, news agencies reported.
Weapons fire was heard at the Sangoule Lamizana camp, which houses the army’s general staff and a prison whose inmates include soldiers involved in a failed 2015 coup attempt.
The gunfire sparked fears that a fresh coup attempt was underway after weeks of growing frustration with the government’s handling of the Islamic insurgency wracking the country.
The government confirmed the gunfire but denied reports on social media that the army had seized power.
“Information on social media would have people believe there was an army takeover,” government spokesman Alkassoum Maiga said in a statement. “The government, while acknowledging that there was gunfire in some barracks, denies this information and calls on the public to remain calm.”
Later Sunday, the government denied rumors that President Roch Marc Christian Kabore had been detained.
“None of the Republic’s institutions has been troubled at the present moment,” defense minister Barthelemy Simpore told national TV, adding that there were “localised, limited” incidents “in a few barracks.”
He said the motive for the shootings by soldiers was still unclear.
Gunfire started overnight
One soldier in a western suburb of the capital told AFP news agency that the gunfire had been heard since 1 a.m. local time (0100 UTC).
Residents there also spoke of “increasingly heavy fire.”
Shots were also heard at another military camp in the south of the capital and at an air base near the airport, military sources said.
Residents told AFP they heard gunfire at barracks in two northern towns.
Jihadist attacks spured protests
Frustration over repeated jihadist attacks, and the government’s inability to curb them, have sparked violent street protests in recent weeks.
Further demos were planned for Saturday, but the government banned them and the police intervened to disperse the hundreds of people who tried to assemble in Ouagadougou.
Governments in West and Central Africa are on high alert for coups after successful putsches over the past 18 months in Mali and Guinea.
The military also took over in Chad last year after President Idriss Deby died on the battlefield.
Burkinabe authorities arrested a dozen soldiers earlier this month on suspicion of conspiring against the government.
Jailed army general held at barracks
Among the inmates at the Sangoule Lamizana camp prison is General Gilbert Diendere.
Diendere was a top ally of former president Blaise Compaore, who was overthrown in a 2014 uprising.
Diendere led a failed coup attempt the following year against the transitional government. He was sentenced in 2019 to 20 years in prison.
He is also currently on trial in connection with the killing of Compaore’s predecessor, Thomas Sankara, during a coup in 1987.
mm/rs (AFP, Reuters)