Millitary seizes power in Burkina Faso

 Burkina Faso’s army seized power on Thursday as it dissolved the parliament and government to form a transitional body, to protest against President Blaise Compaore’s plan to extend his 27-year-rule.

“A transitional body will be put in place in consultation with all parties. A return to the constitutional order is expected in no more than 12 months,” the country’s army chief Nabere Honore Traore told reporters in the capital Ouagadougou.


The military also announced a curfew from 7:00 p.m. on Thursday (1900 GMT) to 6:00 a. m. on Friday (0600 GMT).

Massive demonstrations were witnessed on Thursday after the government urged parliamentarians to amend the constitution, which could enable Compaore to run for a third term in 2015.

Protesters on Thursday morning broke into the country’s parliament. Soldiers ransacked parliament building and set it ablaze, before heading toward the public broadcaster to make a declaration