Burkina Faso coup supporters attack ex-opposition members in hotel hosting mediation talks

Pro-coup demonstrators in Burkina Faso on Sunday invaded a hotel due to host talks aimed at hammering out the details of a deal to restore a civilian interim government and attacked participants arriving for the meeting.
A media report from Ouagadougou said witnesses stated that some of the protesters carried signs expressing support for a military junta headed by the elite presidential guard.
The witnesses said the pro-coup demonstrators invaded the hotel and they attacked ex-opposition members as they arrived.
They noted that it was very violent and one of the ex-opposition members had to be saved from the crowd by security forces.
One of the witnesses said he recognised several of the demonstrators as party militants from the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), Burkina Faso’s former ruling party under ex-president Blaise Compaore, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2014.
Benin’s President Thomas Yayi, who has been mediating in the crisis on behalf of ECOWAS, said on Saturday that the talks were expected to lead to the reinstatement of President Michel Kafando’s interim government.