in an elite Burkina unit have been
arrested in a plot to free comrades
detained after trying to grab power
in September, including coup leader
General Gilbert Diendere, a security source said on Monday. The troops - one of whom is "a
foreign national" - were seized at a
meeting where they planned to carry
out "an attack on several barracks
in the capital”, the source said. In the ensuing chaos, they would
free their detained colleagues, as
well as Diendere and General Djibrill
Bassole, another alleged putschist
leader, the source said. The soldiers seized in the operation
"are being held at Guillaume
Bassole”, a military camp in the
centre of the capital Ouagadougou,
the source said, speaking on
condition of anonymity. Rumours of an attempted jailbreak
from a military detention facility
known by the acronym of MACA
have swept the city in the last week. Prime Minister Isaac Zida confirmed
"around 20" soldiers had been
arrested, adding "they will be tried
for the simple fact of conceiving" of
the plan. Diendere mounted a putsch on
September 17, using crack troops
from a presidential guard. Their unit,
the RSP, was loyal to former head
of state Blaise Compaore, who was
ousted in a popular uprising 2014. Also Read: Compaore charged in Sankara killing The operation was thwarted by
street protesters and support from
the army, which attacked the
plotters' barracks. At least 11 people were killed and
271 were injured in the
demonstrations. Diendere, a chief-of-staff under
Compaore, faces 11 charges,
including for "crimes against
humanity”. He has also been charged with
murder in connection with the
mysterious death in 1987 of Thomas
Sankara, a charismatic
revolutionary leader who was
succeeded by Compaore. Bassole, Compaore's former foreign
minister, was detained in the light of
recorded phone conversations he
allegedly had with the president of
Ivory Coast's National Assembly,
Guillaume Soro, in connection with the failed coup. At least 57 people, including about
20 RSP officers, are being held at
the MACA in relation to the
attempted bid. Two journalists have also been
detained for "criminal association"
and other putsch-related charges. Most of those detained run the risk
of the death penalty if found guilty. The country's president-elect, Roch
Marc Christian Kabore, who will be
sworn in on Tuesday, has vowed
that "justice will run its course”.
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