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Unrest grows in Burkina Faso

October 30, 2014

Ire over a planned change to Burkina Faso's constitutional amendment has sparked widespread protests. Government buildings have come under attack - including parliament - as have national broadcasters.

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Burkina Faso - Demonstrationen gegen den Präsidenten.
Image: Getty Images/I. Sanogo

Swarms of protesters filled the streets of Burkina Faso's capital city, Ouagadougou, on Thursday, the strongest public unrest against the country's leadership in nearly three decades.

A proposed constitutional change which would allow current President Blaise Compaore to extend his 27-year rule had sparked the mass demonstrations. According to the communications minister Alain Edouard Traore, the bill has been "scrapped" in the wake of the protests.

"It is over for the regime!" and "We do not want him again!" protesters shouted, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Demonstrators stormed the parliament building on Thursday, setting the main chamber on fire. Eye witness reports also described people as dragging furniture from the building onto the streets, where they then set it ablaze.

Other cities reported pockets of unrest. In Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso's second-largest city, protesters set fire to the residence of a local politician.

News agency DPA further said that the headquarters of the governing Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) was burned down in the central city of Koudougou.

Meanwhile, in the capital city, state television and radio ceased broadcasting on Thursday after coming under attack.

President Compaore seized power in 1987, and his bid to keep his position has angered much of the public, including many young people, in a country where 60 percent of the population is under 25. The proposed changes would make him eligible for re-election in 2015, when he was due to stand down.

EU, US express concern

Brussels and Washington expressed concern at the deteriorating political and security situation in the West African country.

"Everything that risks jeopardizing stability, equitable development and progress towards democracy must be rejected," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.

The White House also called for calm.

"We call on all parties, including the security forces, to end the violence and return to a peaceful process to create a future for Burkina Faso that will build on Burkina Faso's hard-won democratic gains," the White House said.

kms/lw (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)