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from: SAM MEDNICK, Associated Press
Posted: Nov 27, 2021 / 7:44 am CST
Updated: 11/27/2021 / 7:44 AM CST
A Burkinabe soldier walks past a French armored car that is part of a French military convoy towards Niger that was stopped by protesters in Kaya, Burkina Faso, on Saturday November 20, 2021. City residents have blocked the streets to counter the lack of security and do not allow a French military convoy to continue. (AP photo / Sam Mednick)
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) – Security forces fired tear gas at protesters who were throwing stones in Burkina Faso’s capital on Saturday as tensions rose in the conflict-ridden nation and people were angry at the government’s inability to engage in violence related to al-Qaeda and curb the Islamic State group.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets demanding the resignation of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. Army and police drove through downtown Ouagadougou, the capital, during clashes with protesters, barricaded streets, set tires on fire and threw stones and bricks.
“We refuse to lose Burkina Faso. We will use someone competent to keep the nation safe, ”said Isaac Pagberam. “We have already lost two thirds of our territory, nobody can travel to the country in peace. We say no! We cannot sit until the jihadists come to Ouagadougou to kill us. “
The protest comes after the deadliest attack in years on the security forces in the Sahel province of Soum, in which more than 50 security forces were killed, and after an attack in the Central North region that killed 19 people, including nine dependents of the security forces who were killed were killed.
The anti-government unrest also stems from anti-French protests last week, in which at least four people were injured when French troops fired warning shots at protesters in Kaya who stopped their military convoy from Côte d’Ivoire attempting to invade Kaya, Niger. While the protest on Saturday was mainly directed against the government, anti-French protesters also threw stones at foreigners.
The government’s crackdown on the demonstrators followed a week after the mobile internet was shut down, which the government said was for national security reasons. The president pledged to step up aid to the military and investigate deaths in the Sahel, while urging the population to keep calm.
“The Burkinabe people have the right and the duty to express themselves freely about the conduct of public affairs,” said Kabore. “I would like to invite everyone to be sensible and not to believe that breaking the thermometer will cure the fever.”
But anger across the country is mounting as more protests are planned in the coming weeks. Earlier this month, the opposition gave the president a month-long ultimatum to curb violence or announced protests calling for his resignation.
According to a declaration by the European Union, the international community calls for a return to peaceful social and political life. Diplomats, however, say it is clear that the ruling political elite is losing support, as is the West, which is on the side of the government, according to one Western diplomat who was not allowed to speak to the media, and therefore spoke of the condition of anonymity.
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