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General Gilbert Diendere

Brussels — The EU yesterday urged the Burkina Faso transitional authorities to press ahead quickly with elections after renegade presidential guard troops staged a short-lived coup.

“The end of the clashes is an important step towards normalising the situation in Burkina Faso,” the European Union’s foreign affairs arm said in a statement.

“The first task now is to organise as quickly as possible, credible, transparent and free elections,” it said.

The announcement came several hours after Burkina troops raided the barracks of the presidential guard, ending a tense standoff which had persisted for days after the putschists abandoned their coup.

It said the 28-nation bloc, a major trade and development partner for the impoverished west African country, would continue to support the transitional government.

Earlier this month, soldiers from the powerful presidential guard regiment loyal to ex-leader Blaise Compaore seized interim president Michel Kafando and top officials as they prepared for elections on October 11.

Compaore, in office for 27 years, was ousted late last year in a popular uprising after he said he wanted another term.

Meanwhile, Burkina troops were yesterday searching Ouagadougou to find members of an elite unit behind a short-lived coup, a day after a raid on their barracks, an AFP correspondent said.

Many soldiers could be seen on the streets of the capital’s Ouaga 2000 district, where the presidency and the barracks of the presidential guard, the RSP, which staged the coup on September 17 are located.

“We’re looking for members [of the RSP]. Some of them are hiding,” one of the soldiers said, while refusing access to the neighbourhood.

On Tuesday evening, the army launched an assault on the guards’ barracks after the putschists, who are loyal to deposed strongman Blaise Compaore, refused to disarm despite a peace deal mediated by regional powers.

Heavy gunfire could be heard as troops fired artillery against the barracks, coup leader General Gilbert Diendere said, saying there were likely “many deaths and injuries”.

Diendere was not inside the building, and by yesterday morning, it was still not clear how many people inside had been killed or wounded.

He said there were families inside the building and a clinic inside the barracks.

But the army’s Chief of Staff General Pingrenoma Zagre said the camp was largely empty at the time of the assault.

Yesterday morning, marksmen could be seen in position, their weapons pointed towards areas where guards could have taken refuge.

Situated in the south of the city, Ouaga 2000 is a new district which is still under construction where government ministries and upscale hotels for businessmen dot the sandy terrain. — AFP