Burkina Faso army takes over coup supporters’ barracks

Burkina Faso soldiers have seized control of a military camp held by Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) officers, who refused to disarm in the wake of a failed coup earlier this month.

The soldiers entered the presidential guard palace barracks with little resistance, an army officer told Reuters.

Troops were carrying out clean-up operations at the camp, searching for General Gilbert Diendere, who led the short-lived coup. However, he appeared not to be at the camp.

Gunfire was heard earlier in the evening near the presidential palaces and the RSP barracks. A military spokesman confirmed that the army opened fire on the coup supporters, though no injuries have been reported.

The takeover of the barracks came just hours after the army announced that it was giving the former presidential guard a “last chance” to “avoid a confrontation”, military spokesman Lieutenant Aziz Ouedraogo told a press conference in Ougadougou.

Al Jazeera’s Nicholas Haque reported that “General Diendere says he wants to cooperate and surrender arms,” but the “interim government says Diendere is not cooperating”.

Earlier in the day, former Foreign Affairs Minister Djibril Bassole was arrested for allegedly joining forces with Diendere in the attempted coup, amid claims the two had sought help from foreign forces.