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World

Military in Burkina Faso confirms coup, dissolves transitional government weeks ahead of vote

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2014 file photo, Burkina Faso Prime Minister Lt. Col. Yacouba Isaac Zida , center, leaves a government building after meeting with political leaders in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Soldiers detained Burkina Faso’s transitional president and prime minister Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, raising fears of a coup just weeks before the country was to hold an election to replace its longtime leader who was ousted in a popular uprising late last year. (AP Photo/Theo Renaut,File) (The Associated Press)

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    In this June 1, 2015 photo, Burkina Faso's transitional president Michel Kafando meets with French president Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France. Soldiers arrested Burkina Faso's transitional president and prime minister Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, raising fears of a coup just weeks before the country was to hold an election to replace its longtime leader who was ousted in a popular uprising late last year. (Ian Langsdon/Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

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    People demonstrate near the presidential palace after soldiers arrested Burkina Faso’s transitional president and prime minister in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015. Soldiers arrested the two transitional leaders Wednesday, raising fears of a coup just weeks before the country was to hold an election to replace its longtime leader who was ousted in a popular uprising late last year. (AP Photo/Theo Renaut) (The Associated Press)

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – The military in Burkina Faso has taken to the airwaves to declare it now controls the country, confirming that a coup has taken place just weeks before national elections.

In the announcement aired early Thursday on national television and radio, the statement said that the transitional government had been dissolved.

The statement came a day after members of the elite presidential guard unit of the military arrested the transitional president and prime minister.

Burkina Faso was due to hold elections on Oct. 11 that many hoped would strengthen democracy. The transitional government came to power after the president of 27 years, Blaise Compaore, was ousted late last year in a public uprising.