Angry demonstrators went on the rampage in Burkina Faso on Thursday, setting parliament ablaze in an uprising against the regime of long-standing President Blaise Compaore.
The protesters forced the government to scrap a vote on controversial plans to allow Compaore to extend his 27-year rule, with tens of thousands of people joining a mass rally in the capital Ouagadougou calling for the strongman to go.
Hundreds of people stormed parliament and other public buildings including the national television headquarters, ransacking offices and setting fire to cars, despite a heavy police and army presence across the capital Ouagadougou.
The United States and former colonial power France voiced alarm over the unrest gripping the poor west African nation while the UN chief was sending an envoy to help restore calm.
“The army is united with the people,” claimed Benewende Sankara, a leading light in the opposition, calling for Compaore to resign to enable peace to be restored.
Army chief Nabere Honore Traore was meeting retired general Kouame Lougue, a former defence minister being touted by the opposition as a replacement for Compaore, to discuss the crisis.
Hundreds of people had earlier broken through a heavy security cordon and stormed the National Assembly building, before attacking the national television headquarters and moving on the presidential palace
