Police have fired tear gas at protestors who blocked roads and hurled rocks in Burkina Faso’s capital, as anger grows over the government’s failure to stop armed attacks spreading across the country.
Over a hundred people marched through downtown Ouagadougou on Saturday calling for President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to resign.
Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators in the capital, Ouagadougou.
Riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowds who came out to protest the insecurity and erected barricades in several places.
Burkina Faso has been plagued by violence since 2015, which is attributable to armed jihadist groups.
Several people protested in solidarity with their neighbors in Mali, who are angry that the economic regional bloc of West Africa, ECOWAS, imposed sanctions on the country after its military government delayed the elections this year.
The protest in Burkina Faso coincides with escalating attacks by Al Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) that have killed thousands of people and forced 1.5 million to flee.
Demonstrations on the streets have called for Kabore to resign due to the worsening security situation.
United Nations reports that nearly 12,000 people were displaced in two weeks in December.
An operation with Burkina Faso’s military resulted in the injury of four French soldiers as well.
Pascal Ianni, spokesman for French armed forces’ chief of defence said two French soldiers died during a hostage release operation in 2019.
France has some 5,000 soldiers in the region but until now has had minimal involvement in Burkina Faso compared with Niger or Mali.
Earlier this week the government blocked access to Facebook for security reasons and arrested 15 people for planning a coup. This is the government’s second crackdown on protesters since November.
The government is trying to stem the violence as tensions mount. Most of the cabinet members were replaced by the president who fired the prime minister last month.
According to a senior military official and a former soldier who did not want to be identified, the government’s security arm is also preparing to reopen negotiations with the armed rebels. Negotiating secret ceasefires with the rebels last occurred around the time of the 2020 presidential elections, when violence subsided for several months.
The locals say the country is overrun by armed groups controlling vast tracts of land, planting flags, and insisting that people abide by their interpretation of Islamic law.
