Rebellious soldiers in Burkina Faso have detained President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and asked him to resign.
President Kabore is being held at a military camp, local sources confirmed. Government spokesperson Alkassoum Maiga is yet to respond to inquiries.
News of Kabore’s detention came after a day of unrest in Burkina Faso on Sunday, when soldiers at several army bases opened fire, including at the military airport in the capital, Ouagadougou.
The government imposed a curfew between 8 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. and ordered schools to remain shutdown Monday. Internet services have been cut, according to Netblocks, a private business that monitors disruptions to connectivity.
Kabore, 64, has faced overwhelming critieism over his failure to tackle a mushrooming insurgency that’s destabilised other countries in the region including Mali, Niger and Ivory Coast since it began six years ago.
Burkina Faso is Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, where companies including Endeavour Mining Plc and Iamgold Corporation own mines.
In November, protesters hit to the streets calling for Kabore’s resignation after 49 military police were killed in attack on a military police base in the north of the country.
Protests escalated quuckly after an internal army document showed the officers had been left without food for weeks.
