Burkina Faso: the military convoy still French blocked at the entrance to Kaya, the situation is tense
Burkinabè soldiers patrol near a fenced area where French soldiers are entrenched, November 20, 2021. © OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The convoy of the French army is preparing to spend a third night in Kaya, about a hundred kilometers from the city.
After the failure of the mediation of the administrative authorities and political leaders, the French soldiers had to fire warning shots to repel the demonstrators.
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With our correspondent in Ouagadougou,
Yaya Boudani
“
The French army will fall back.
She won't sleep here tonight.
This is the announcement made in the afternoon by the governor of the North Central region to the demonstrators.
Casimir Segueda asked them to clear the passage to allow the French military convoy to turn back towards Ouagadougou.
According to an administrative authority joined on the spot, the demonstrators agreed to let the convoy leave for the capital, but on the condition that the governor remains on site to supervise the withdrawal.
At the last moment, according to our source, the French soldiers refused, because they had not received any instruction in this direction.
The military convoy withdrew into the garage of a mining company following pressure from the
populations which prevented its transit for Niger
.
Some protesters demand the inspection of the material carried in the containers.
"
The situation could escalate at any time here
"
It is therefore still the
status quo
on the spot but the situation is becoming more and more tense.
According to witnesses, French soldiers fired warning shots in the air in front of the crowd that gathered around their parking area.
The ranks of the demonstrators strengthened with the arrival of hundreds of other young people from several localities near Kaya.
“
Young people came from Pissila, Louda, Boussouma, Tougouri.
The situation could degenerate at any time here
”, worries a local elected representative.
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Burkina Faso
France
Defense