Updated

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar's national police say they have arrested the leader of a failed mutiny.

In a statement, the police said Lt. Col. Raymond Andrianjafy and several others were being held pending investigations.

The mutineers had called for protests against "injustice" on this impoverished Indian Ocean island, which has been tense since a 2009 coup.

On Thursday, clashes between soldiers and alleged mutineers left three dead. The violence ended when soldiers stormed a police barracks in the capital.

In 2009, Andry Rajoelina, a former disc jockey and mayor of the capital backed by the armed forces, ousted an elected president. Rajoelina has resisted international mediation efforts, and the armed forces have shown signs of cooling toward him in recent weeks.