Heavy weapons fire heard at Burkina coup plotters' barracks

Heavy weapons fire was heard on Tuesday afternoon at the barracks of an elite army unit that staged a short-lived coup in Burkina Faso, an AFP journalist said.

Dust was rising into the sky above the Naaba Koom II barracks in the capital Ouagadougou next to the presidential palace, the journalist said.

The fresh gunfire came as Burkina Faso's army announced it was giving a "a last chance" to the coup plotters to "avoid a confrontation", military spokesman Lieutenant Aziz Ouedraogo said.

"A last chance has been given to the former presidential guard," Ouedraogo told a press conference in Ouagadougou. "We are giving them another chance to avoid a confrontation."

The coup plotters were engaged in a tense standoff with authorities on Tuesday after they failed to disarm following the September 17 putsch, with the army staging a lockdown in the Ouaga 2000 neighbourhood around the barracks.

Although the army unit behind the takeover, the elite presidential guard (RSP) loyal to ousted leader Blaise Compaore, abandoned the coup last week and was formally dissolved by the cabinet on Friday, the troops have failed to lay down their weapons and remained inside their barracks.

The army on Tuesday encircled the barracks with troops armed with machine guns, armoured vehicles and pick-up trucks mounted with rocket-propelled grenades.

Ouagadougou airport was also shut down.

Source: AFP