Burkina: shots heard near the presidency in Ouagadougou, under tension

Shots of still unknown origin were heard Friday morning before dawn in Ouagadougou in the district housing the presidency and the headquarters of the military junta in power since January, witnesses told AFP.

“

,” said one of them, living near the presidency.

During the morning, other shots were heard by an AFP cameraman in the Ouaga 2000 district, where the presidency and the military camp of the ruling junta are located.

Several axes of the Burkinabè capital were blocked by soldiers posted on the main intersections of the city, in particular in front of the headquarters of the national television, noted AFP journalists.

Read alsoMonday attack in Burkina: at least 11 soldiers killed and 50 civilians missing

The large Ouagadougou market was open, although not all the traders were behind their stands.

Interrupted for several hours, the national television signal returned around 09:15 GMT and documentaries were broadcast, without the current situation being mentioned.

Burkina Faso is ruled by a military junta that came to power last January in a coup.

This putsch, which had overthrown the elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, had started with mutinies in several barracks of the country.

The strong man of this junta, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had promised when he took power to make security his priority, in this country undermined for years by jihadist attacks.

Brief “

quiet

”

But the situation has not improved and the deadly attacks, affecting dozens of civilians and soldiers, have continued.

At the beginning of September, President Damiba had welcomed a “

” in several localities.

But the attacks continued in the north, where cities are now subject to a blockade by jihadists, who blow up bridges with dynamite and attack supply convoys circulating in the area.

On September 5, a first convoy had jumped on an improvised explosive device, causing the death of 35 civilians, including many children.

A few days later, on September 13, Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba dismissed his Minister of Defense to assume this role himself.

Read alsoAfter Mali and Guinea, Burkina Faso in turn targeted by a coup

This week, another convoy, escorted by the army and which was to supply food to the town of Djibo (north), was attacked by suspected jihadists.

With a very heavy toll: 11 soldiers died, 28 people were injured and 50 civilians are missing, according to the latest official figures.

Other attacks have particularly marked public opinion, such as the massacre of Seytenga (north) last June, during which 86 civilians were killed.

Since 2015, recurrent attacks by armed movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, mainly in the north and east of the country, have killed thousands and displaced some two million people.

Since last year, Burkina has become the epicenter of violence in the Sahel, with more deadly attacks than in Mali or Niger in 2021, according to the NGO Acled.

More than 40% of the territory is outside state control, according to official figures.