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Eight Burkina Faso troops held for 'plot'

Anne MimaultReuters
Burkina Faso authorities have questioned eight soldiers over an alleged plot against the government.
Camera IconBurkina Faso authorities have questioned eight soldiers over an alleged plot against the government. Credit: AP

Eight soldiers in Burkina Faso have been arrested on suspicion of conspiring against the government, the military prosecutor's office says.

One of the alleged plotters tipped off the authorities on Saturday to an alleged "plan to destabilise the institutions of the republic", the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

An investigation is underway and the soldiers have been questioned, it said.

Governments in west and central Africa are on high alert for coups after successful putsches over the past 18 months in Mali and Guinea.

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The military also took over in Chad last year after president Idriss Deby died on the battlefield.

Neighbouring governments have imposed heavy sanctions on the military rulers in Guinea and Mali in an effort to head off any contagion effect in a region once known as Africa's "coup belt".

Burkina Faso appears to be especially vulnerable.

Rising violence by Islamist militants killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians last year, prompting violent street protests in November calling for President Roch Kabore to step down.

The Burkinabe government at the time suspended mobile internet service for over a week and the tense situation led the United Nations' special envoy to west Africa to warn against any military takeover.

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