Burundi army says coup d'etat foiled, Nkurunziza in control

Thursday, May 14, 2015 9:03 am

Major-General-Godefroid-Niyombare: Burundi’s coup leader

The head of Burundi’s army said on Thursday that an attempted coup had failed and forces loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza were in control, a day after another general said he had sacked Nkurunziza for seeking an unconstitutional third term in office.

“The coup attempt failed, loyal forces are still controlling all strategic points,” said Army Chief of Staff General Prime Niyongabo in a statement broadcast on state radio.

As the re-assuring words came, heavy gunfire was still being heard around the state television and radio station in the capital on Thursday morning, Reuters reported. And two private radio stations and a television station that carried Major General Godefroid Niyombare’s announcement on Wednesday that he had sacked Nkurunziza, were reportedly attacked by unknown men in police uniforms.

Neither Niyombare nor his spokespeople were immediately available to comment.

With President Nkurunziza having gone to Tanzania to discuss the crisis with East African leaders on Wednesday, the presidency dismissed the declaration by Niyombare, who was fired as Nkurunziza’s intelligence chief in February, saying on Facebook that the coup had been “foiled”.

Nkurunziza: whereabouts unknown

Late on Wednesday night, Nkurunziza’s whereabouts were unclear.

A Tanzanian official said he had not attended the talks in Dar es Salaam, and had left to return to Burundi. But Niyombare said the capital’s airport and all border crossings were closed.

The East African leaders condemned the bid to oust him and called for a return to “constitutional order”.

Late on Wednesday, continental body the African Union condemned the attempted coup.

“The chairperson condemns in the strongest terms today’s coup attempt in Bujumbura, calls for the return to constitutional order and urges all stakeholders to exercise utmost restraint,” AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in a statement.

Activists say more than 20 people have been killed in weeks of protest against Nkurunziza’s re-election bid, plunging Burundi into its worst crisis since an ethnically fuelled civil war ended in 2005.