Updated

Burkina Faso's army says it is chasing seven soldiers from an elite unit loyal to the country's former president who are suspected of participating in a raid on an armory near the capital.

An army statement said Sunday that the soldiers are believed to be south of the capital, Ouagadougou, in the direction of Burkina Faso's shared border with Ghana. It said they had split up into "groups of two and three" and are fleeing on motorbikes.

The army distributed photos of the soldiers, members of the former presidential guard that was disbanded after staging a brief, failed coup last September.

Friday's armory raid came just one week after Islamic extremists attacked a cafe and hotel popular with foreigners in Ouagadougou, killing at least 30 people.