Tweet
AfricaM
adagascar forces storm rebel base
Gunfire heard as security forces enter barracks where dissident soldiers who attempted coup three days ago are holed up.
Last Modified: 20 Nov 2010 14:43 GMT
Email Article
Print Article
Share Article
Send Feedback
Security forces in Madagascar have stormed a military base outside Antananarivo, the capital, where dissident soldiers who attempted a coup three days ago have been based.
"Loyal forces are storming into the camp to neutralise the mutineers," an officer at the scene told the AFP news agency. "The officers [mutineers] have given themselves up. It is some junior soldiers who are firing back."
At least 50 soldiers were seen at the entrance of the barracks where an explosion and gun shots were heard.
Al Jazeera's Tania Page, reporting from near the base, said that the situation inside the barracks is unclear.
"Gunfire was heard but very little details are coming out of the area at the moment," she said.
Around 20 soldiers, who declared on Wednesday that all government institutions were suspended and a military council was in charge, have been holed up in the camp. They said they were taking over from Andry Rajoelina, the president, who himself grabbed power with military backing last year.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Email Article
Print Article
Share Article
Send Feedback
Topics in this article People
Country
City
Featured on Al Jazeera
Republican Cantor recants on Israel
Incoming House Majority Leader tries to explain why he pledged allegiance to Israel's leader over the US President.
A tale of hope in Kabul
Principal Assadullah Kohistani embodies grassroots Afghan transition, having tirelessly built up his Kabul high school.
Mass weddings grow in Yemen
In the Arab world's poorest state, a new breed of wedding ceremony has emerged out of financial hardship.
Are we living in the end times?
Slavoj Zizek, the philosopher and cultural critic, on the collapse of society and the failure of capitalism.