Tag Archives: Madagascar

Madagascar’s army has launched an assault to wrest control of a military camp near the airport from mutinous soldiers who stormed it earlier in the day, an army spokesman has said. “The assault has already begun. A wounded sergeant with the mutiny who came out of the camp indicated there was an exchange of fire inside the camp. Gunfire is heard outside the camp,” the head of the army’s communication service, Philibert Ratovonirina, said on Sunday. The army earlier said it had surrounded the barracks and was holding negotiations with the rebels. A rebel soldier has shot an army officer sent in to negotiate the surrender of mutinous soldiers who took over a barracks near Madagascar’s main airport on Sunday, the army said in a statement. “An (army) captain, among the officers sent to negotiate with the mutineers, was shot at by the mutineers. We are not yet able to confirm if he died or not…” said the head of the army’s communication service, Philibert Ratovonirina. “The officers have left the area and negotiations have been stopped … We’ll see what happens next. “At 5am a group of armed soldiers forced their way into the barracks of the 1st RFI (First Regiment of Interventionist Forces) Ivato. The group fired in the air, blocking all attempts to enter into the barracks,” an army statement said. Soldiers and gendarmes were positioned around the camp, an army official said. Political turmoil The island has been wracked by political turmoil over the last three years since the ousting of president Marc Ravalomanana, who has since lived in self-imposed exile in neighbouring South Africa. Then-opposition leader Andry Rajoelina led violent street protests against Ravalomanana and eventually seized power in March 2009 with the help of dissident army officers. The rival leaders are scheduled to meet for reconciliation talks next week in the Seychelles. Earlier the army said there was no risk of the incident spreading beyond the base. The army said Corporal Koto Mainty, former bodyguard of a former defence minister and known as “Black”, had led the revolt. A Reuters cameraman at the scene heard gunshots fired in the air. Onlookers gathered nervously around the camp, a few hundred metres from the airport. A defence ministry statement said Ivato International airport remained open. “We are working normally as usual. But it is up to companies to decide on their flights,” border police chief John Brunelle Razafitsiandraofa told Reuters. Britain’s Foreign Office said in a travel advisory that the airport had been closed. The US embassy in Madagascar said on its Twitter feed that flights in and out had been suspended … Read More