OUAGADOUGOU: Mutinous soldiers seized a key southern town in Burkina Faso as a revolt against the west African nation's veteran ruler Blaise Compaore spread today.
Soldiers at a military garrison at Po near the Ghana border fired in the air and took over the town overnight, looting and seizing private vehicles, residents told AFP.
Two people were injured in the firing, a hospital source said.
"The firing has intensified. The soldiers are currently in the town, some on foot and the others on motorbikes," a resident said today.
"The looting is still going on. The soldiers are taking the cars of those who venture outside in their vehicles," another said.
Po, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) from the capital Ouagadougou, houses a training school for Burkinabe military officers and is a symbolic town for Compaore, who trained here.
"The firing is continuing," one resident said in the late afternoon. "(Po) is like a ghost town. Everyone is staying at home.
Soldiers at a military garrison at Po near the Ghana border fired in the air and took over the town overnight, looting and seizing private vehicles, residents told AFP.
Two people were injured in the firing, a hospital source said.
"The firing has intensified. The soldiers are currently in the town, some on foot and the others on motorbikes," a resident said today.
"The looting is still going on. The soldiers are taking the cars of those who venture outside in their vehicles," another said.
Po, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) from the capital Ouagadougou, houses a training school for Burkinabe military officers and is a symbolic town for Compaore, who trained here.
"The firing is continuing," one resident said in the late afternoon. "(Po) is like a ghost town. Everyone is staying at home.
"
The military has sent a delegation to the town in a bid to start talks with the mutineers, an officer with the army's general staff said.
"The top brass has sent a mission to hold talks with the forces in Po," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity and provided no further details.
Compaore staged a 1983 coup from Po which brought his friend and comrade in arms Thomas Sankara to power. The former army captain himself took control of the country later in a 1987 military coup and has won all elections since.
Authorities had imposed a night curfew on the capital Ouagadougou after civilians burnt government buildings.
Forty-five people had been taken to hospital with injuries in the city over three days, some caused by bullets, and there were a number of cases of rape, a source at the main hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity on Saturday.
Soldiers earlier took to the capital's streets, firing wildly, after Compaore dissolved his government and named a new army chief late Friday to reassert his authority and appease a nation that has been protesting sporadically for change since February.
The military has sent a delegation to the town in a bid to start talks with the mutineers, an officer with the army's general staff said.
"The top brass has sent a mission to hold talks with the forces in Po," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity and provided no further details.
Compaore staged a 1983 coup from Po which brought his friend and comrade in arms Thomas Sankara to power. The former army captain himself took control of the country later in a 1987 military coup and has won all elections since.
Authorities had imposed a night curfew on the capital Ouagadougou after civilians burnt government buildings.
Forty-five people had been taken to hospital with injuries in the city over three days, some caused by bullets, and there were a number of cases of rape, a source at the main hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity on Saturday.
Soldiers earlier took to the capital's streets, firing wildly, after Compaore dissolved his government and named a new army chief late Friday to reassert his authority and appease a nation that has been protesting sporadically for change since February.
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