The Burkina Faso’s deposed President Blaise Compaore Suspected
loyalists seized
weapons in an overnight raid on an armoury in the capital, security
sources said yesterday.
The arms theft came less than a week
after al Qaeda fighters killed 30 people in a restaurant and hotel
popular with foreigners in Ouagadougou, exposing the security challenges
facing new President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Two military sources said gunmen arrived
at the weapons depot at around 4 a.m. yesterday and overpowered the
security detail on duty. There were no casualties, but the assailants
carried off an unknown quantity of weapons.
The sources said at least one of the
attackers was recognized as a member of Compaore’s elite Presidential
Security Regiment (RSP) which was disarmed and dissolved last year after
the ex-leader’s spy chief, General Gilbert Diendere ,used them to mount
a failed coup.
Diendere has been charged with crimes including treason.
Government spokesman, Remi Dandjin, part
of a new cabinet named only last week, confirmed the attack, but said
he was not able to give details other than that gendarmes and police had
secured the zone.
Credit: The Nation
Compaore was driven from power and
forced to flee Burkina Faso in October 2014 amid a popular uprising
opposed to his attempt to alter the constitution and extend his 27-year
rule. He lives in exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast.
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