Burkina Faso: Military Overthrows Govt for Failing To Quell Islamist Insurgency
President Kaboré's present location is unknown, but a military officer said that all detainees were safe.
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Burkina Faso's military, on Monday, 24 January, announced that it had ousted President Roch Kaboré and had taken control of the government, Reuters reported.
The deteriorating security situation with respect to an Islamist insurgency that the president had failed to crush all this while, an insurgency which threatened the very "foundations of the nation," was cited by the military as the justification for the coup.
Rebelling soldiers have been demanding the sacking of military chiefs and more resources to fight the Islamic State and al-Qaeda militants.
They also demanded more troops to be deployed to fight the insurgency, and better treatment and compensation for the families of fallen and wounded soldiers.
Kaboré's present location is unknown, but a military officer said that all detainees were safe.
The ruling People's Movement for Progress (PMP) party had announced on Monday that both President Kaboré and a government minister had survived an assassination attempt, BBC reported.
The coup occurs in the backdrop of 11 soldiers being arrested recently for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Kaboré government.
Public anger against the government has been on the rise since November last year, when 53 people, mostly security officers, were gunned down by jihadists, according to a report published by Al Jazeera.
That anger culminated into an anti-government protest that took place on 22 January.
The government violently cracked down on protesters, beating them and using tear gas to attack them.
That government has now been removed by the military, and the country's situation looks more precarious than ever.
(With inputs from Reuters, Al Jazeera, and BBC.)
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