Soldiers Say Military Junta Now Controls Burkina Faso

More than a dozen mutinous soldiers declared Monday on state television that a military junta now controls Burkina Faso after they detained the democratically elected president following a day of gunbattles in the capital.

The military coup is the third of its kind in West Africa in the last 18 months, creating perilous upheaval in some of the countries hardest hit by Islamic extremists attacks.

Capt. Sidsore Kaber Ouedraogo said that the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration would work to establish a calendar “acceptable to everyone” for holding new elections.

He did not give details.