National TV and radio channels are off
There are multiple reports of massive gunfire in the capital of Burkina Faso, where a coup is reportedly underway.
The national broadcaster, Radio and TV, has gone off since the wee hours of today. Reports indicate that there was a heavy gunfight overnight.
The Reuters news agency reports that the gunfire is coming from the main army camp and some residential areas in the capital.
Multiple tweets indicate that there is a heavy army presence and some roads have been blocked.
The current military junta headed by Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba deposed the democratically elected government of Christian Marc Kabore in January citing failure of the government to curb rising insecurity.
Since taking over, however, the security situation in the country has continued to deteriorate with attacks on military personnel and formations.
The most recent incident led to the death of 11 soldiers with about 50 civilians missing in what is suspected to be a terrorist attack.
A BBC report said, twenty-eight other people, including 20 soldiers, were wounded in the Monday attack and a search for the missing people is ongoing.
The vehicles, which were escorted by a military patrol, had been taking supplies to residents in the north of the country, it added.
Junta leader speaks at UN General Assembly
The junta leader while addressing the just ended 77th United Nations General Assembly defended the January 24 overthrow of the democratically elected president describing it as “necessary and indispensable.”
“It was, above all, an issue of survival for our nation,” he said. That’s even if it was “perhaps reprehensible in terms of the principles held dear by the United Nations and the international community as a whole.”
On the issue of terrorist threat across the region, he emphasized: “No precautions or prevention measures will prevent terrorism from crossing the Atlantic if the Sahel is abandoned.
“Nothing at all will be able to stop the youth in the Sahel countries and its surroundings from giving in to the temptation of perilous immigration to Europe through the Sahara and the Mediterranean if these youth no longer have any hope by staying at home.”
