[ 2011-06-11 ]

Burkina Faso arrests 109 after munity: officer
OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) - Burkina Faso's military has
arrested at least 109 people after disgruntled
troops went on a looting spree in the country's
economic capital last week, a military source said
Friday.

Six soldiers and a 14-year-old girl were killed in
the southwestern city of Bobo Dioulasso when
military units cracked down on looting soldiers
demanding higher wages, a repeat of similar unrest
in April.

"Currently we have at 109 people under arrest," a
soldier based in Bobo Dioulasso told AFP.

On Monday, officials said 93 people had been
detained.

The military source added that while most of those
being held are soldiers who left their base
without permission and tore around Bobo Dioulasso
firing shots in the air and pillaging shops, some
civilians were also arrested.

During the chaos earlier this month, residents
frustrated by the government's failure to contain
the rampaging troops took to the streets, damaging
some government buildings.

The mutiny was stamped out last Friday by units
from the presidential guard supported by
paratroopers.

In a statement, the party of President Blaise
Compaore on Friday applauded the the soldiers for
"reestablishing discipline," in the city where
local traders were furious about the massive
theft.

Bobo Dioulasso Mayor Salia Sanou previously said
about 80 percent of the goods stolen had been
recovered.

Protests first broke out in Burkina Faso in
February over high food prices, unemployment,
rising costs and looting by troops.

Soldiers and paramilitary police joined the unrest
in April, going on the rampage in several towns.

In a bid to quell the unrest, Compaore, in power
since 1987, fired army and police chiefs in April
and formed a new government, naming himself
defence minister, while promising subsidies on
basic commodities and other urgent measures.

Source - AFP

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