JAKARTA - Burkina Faso's army said on Monday it had ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and national assembly and closed the country's borders.
The announcement cited the deteriorating security situation and what the army described as President Kabore's inability to unite the country and effectively respond to challenges, including the uprising of radical religious groups.
Signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and read by other officials on state television, the announcement said the takeover was nonviolent and that those detained were in a safe location.
The statement was made on behalf of a previously unheard-of entity, the Patriotic Movement for Protection and Recovery, or MPSR, its French acronym.
"The MPSR, which includes all sections of the army, has decided to terminate the post of President Kabore today," he said, citing Reuters January 25.
President Kabore's whereabouts were unknown on Monday, with conflicting reports about the situation.
Earlier, President Kabore's side said he survived the assassination attempt, but gave no details. He also said his private residence had been sacked.
Several armored vehicles belonging to the presidential fleet were spotted near the Kabore residence on Monday, loaded with bullets. One of them was covered in blood.
Security sources gave conflicting accounts of Kabore's situation, with some saying he was detained by coup organizers and others saying forces loyal to him had taken him to a safe location. Reuters could not independently verify the circumstances.
The broadcast came after two days of confusion and fear in Ouagadougou, the capital, where shooting erupted at army camps on Sunday, with the army demanding more resources to fight religious radicals.
Army coups have toppled governments over the past 18 months in Mali and Guinea. The military also took over Chad last year after President Idriss Deby was killed fighting rebels on battlefields in the north of the country.
Landlocked Burkina Faso, one of West Africa's poorest countries despite being a gold producer, has seen many coups since independence from France in 1960.
The MPSR said it would propose a calendar for a return to the constitutional order "within a reasonable period of time, after consultation with various parts of the nation."
Separately, the US State Department on Monday said it was aware of reports President Kabore had been detained by the military and called for his release.
The Department also added that it was "too soon" to officially characterize developments in the West African country, when asked if Washington was conducting a coup assessment.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned any attempt to take the government by force of arms" in Burkina Faso and called on coup leaders to lay down their arms, a UN spokesman said after the military statement.
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