The leader of Burkina Faso’s short-lived coup Gen Gilbert Diendere says he fears there were “many deaths” when troops seized a barracks from the presidential guard in the capital, Ouagadougou, last night, AFP news agency reports.
Gen Diendere ceded power last week after staging a coup a week earlier with the backing of the elite president guard.
Pro-government troops launched the assault on the barracks after accusing members of the guard of refusing to lay down their weapons, as part of a peace deal brokered by regional leaders, reports the BBC.
The army “fired artillery,” Gen Diendere told AFP, adding that there had been families and a clinic inside the barracks.
“There must have been many deaths and injuries,” he said.
The government has not given any casualty figures.
Before the assault began, the government had told civilians to move away from the area in radio broadcasts.
