Burundi coup bid: Some coup leaders ‘arrested’

The signs of heavy fighting were seen over Bujumbura on Thursday

Some of the leaders of a failed coup against Burundi’s president have been arrested, reports say.

It is not clear if their leader, Gen Godefroid Niyombare, is among them. Gen Niyombare, who launched the coup attempt on Wednesday, told the AFP agency: “I hope they won’t kill us.”

Another of the renegade generals admitted earlier that the attempt to overthrow the president had failed.

Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has tweeted he is back in the country.

“We have decided to surrender,” Gen Niyombare told AFP. He added that troops loyal to the president were approaching him.

Throughout Thursday, there were fatal clashes in the capital, Bujumbura, leaving at least five soldiers dead.

Thousands celebrated on the streets of the capital after Gen Niyombare announced the takeover on national radio on Wednesday whilst President Nkurunziza attended a summit in Tanzania.

This followed weeks of protests against Mr Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term in office, an apparently unconstitutional move, causing tens of thousands to flee the country.

The Burundi military claim that they control the city’s airport and national state TV and radio stations. BBC reporters say the streets seem to be mainly in the control of loyalist police.

The military had said that they believe the number of troops supporting the coup has dwindled.

This appears to be in line with Gen Cyrille Ndayirukiye’s said that most in the military wanted to keep the current government in power.

“Personally, I recognise that our movement has failed,” he said, according to AFP.

“We were faced with an overpowering military determination to support the system in power,” he added.

© BBC