Burkina Faso pursues soldiers suspected in armory raid

Burkina Faso’s army is chasing seven soldiers from an elite unit loyal to the country’s former president who are suspected of participating in a raid on an armory near the capital, according to a statement issued Sunday.

The soldiers are believed to be south of the capital, Ouagadougou, in the direction of Burkina Faso’s shared border with Ghana, having fled on motorbikes after splitting up into “groups of two and three,” the statement said.

“Let us prevent them from running away,” the statement said.

The pre-dawn raid at the weapons warehouse on Friday exacerbated security concerns in the West African country just one week after Islamic extremists killed 30 people when they attacked a cafe and hotel popular with foreigners in Ouagadougou.

Army officials said Saturday night that 10 soldiers had been arrested in connection with the raid and that more arrests were expected. The soldiers came from the former presidential guard, an elite unit loyal to former President Blaise Compaore, who was toppled from power in an October 2014 uprising after leading the country for 27 years.

The presidential guard was disbanded after staging a brief, failed coup last September. Many of its 1,300 members were integrated into other army units, though some remain on the run. Last month officials accused guard members of plotting to attack a military prison and free their former leader, Gen. Gilbert Diendere, who was arrested after the coup.

In addition to the 10 soldiers, a “religious figure” was also arrested in connection with Friday’s armory raid, army communications director Willy Yameogo said Saturday, without providing details.

Officials have not specified how many weapons were seized during the raid, though Yameogo said some Kalashnikov rifles and anti-tank rocket launchers are unaccounted for.

This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Burkina Faso pursues soldiers suspected in armory raid."