Outcome uncertain as former ally ‘dismisses’ president and says he is working to form transitional government

The whereabouts of Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza – initially reported on Wednesday to be flying home from a summit in Tanzania – were unknown after a former ally launched a coup in his absence following weeks of protests sparked by Nkurunziza’s deeply unpopular decision to seek a third term in office. There was ­speculation late on Wednesday that the president may have travelled to a third country elsewhere in the region.

On Wednesday afternoon, Major General Godefroid Niyombare, who was fired by Nkurunziza as intelligence chief three months ago, told reporters at a barracks in the capital, Bujumbura, that he had “dismissed” the president and was working with civil society groups, religious leaders and politicians to form a transitional government.

The announcement followed three weeks of violent unrest that has left at least 20 people dead, forced more than 50,000 to flee the country and plunged Burundi into its worst crisis since the end of its 12-year civil war in 2006.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Demonstrators celebrate the attempted military coup in Bujumbura. Photograph: Berthier Mugiraneza/AP

“Regarding President Nkurunziza’s arrogance and defiance of the international community, which advised him to respect the constitution and Arusha peace agreement, the committee for the establishment of the national concord decide President Nkurunziza is dismissed,” said Niyombare. “His government is dismissed too.”

The general’s remarks were later broadcast on local radio stations.

Nkurunziza had travelled to Dar es Salaam to discuss the political violence with fellow regional presidents and was not in Burundi when the news broke. A Tanzanian official told reporters that Nkurunziza had not attended the talks in Dar and was returning home.

General launches coup attempt in Burundi – in pictures Read more

Rumours had swirled shortly before the general’s announcement was made, with Burundians huddled around radios waiting for information. After the broadcast, the streets of Bujumbura flooded with people jumping and screaming jubilant cries of “Peace in Burundi! Peace in Burundi!”

In Independence Square in the centre of of the city – where the smell of the morning’s tear gas still lingered and protesters showed bullet casings from the live ammunition they said police had fired on them earlier in the day – people gathered, whooping, shouting, and honking congratulatory messages to each other and the military.

Protesters clambered on vehicles roofs, waving tree branches and placards shouting “No third term! No third term!” Some main roads in the city were so congested with revellers that they became impassable.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A female protester holds an axe during a protest against Nkurunziza. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

“I think many things are going to change now that we’ll have a president we chose ourselves,” said Alice Nzeyimana, 24, a small business owner, as she jumped up and down.

“Some women became widows, and some children became orphans during these protests, but we’re so happy we’re finally here.”



A crowd of young men charged through the square cheering, the Burundian flag raised above their heads rippling in the wind. They waved sticks and pieces of timber. One man bared a picture of Nkuruniza with the eyes torn out.



In Nyakabiga, one of the neighbourhoods that has been nearly shut down by protests for the past two-and-a-half weeks, residents’ joy was equally palpable.



“We are so happy, we are so happy, this is a huge victory!” said Nduwimana Janvier. “We thank our soldiers for protecting us, we ask that democracy be upheld, we’re asking for freedom for Burundians.”

Despite the celebrations, however, the fate of the coup attempt remained unclear. Nkurunziza claimed, over the radio from Dar, that the coup had failed – a message repeated on the presidency’s Twitter and Facebook pages.



Burundi | Présidence (@BdiPresidence) La situation est maitrisée, il n'y a pas de coup d'Etat au #Burundi

It was uncertain whether Burundi’s police forces, who have suppressed the anti-government protests with live round of ammunition, would support it. The military presence was heavy in the city and officers were stationed outside of the Central Bank of Burundi as well as Radio Publique Africaine, the station that broadcast the announcement of the attempted coup.



The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called on all parties in Burundi to exercise calm and restraint, reminding them that peace and stability were vital “in a country that has suffered so grievously from previous bouts of violence”.

Protesters run near a barricade in Bujumbura on Wednesday. Photograph: Jennifer Huxta/AFP/Getty Images

The protests began on 25 April after the ruling party nominated Nkurunziza to run for re-election in a vote due next month. His opponents argue the move is a clear violation of the constitution, which limits a president to two terms in office.



Everything we fought for was a lie, says ex-soldier protesting in Burundi Read more

The unrest has provoked fears of a return to the violence that engulfed the country during the civil war, which pitched ethnic Tutsis and Hutus against one another and left around 300,000 people dead.

Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader from the Hutu majority, has so far defied international pressure to withdraw from the election. A constitutional court has ruled that the president can run because his first term – for which he was picked by parliament rather than elected by popular vote – does not count. Critics say the court is biased.

The crackdown on protests has drawn rebukes from many of the western nations that provide the aid on which Burundi relies for half its budget. European states are the biggest contributors, while the US provides support to the army.

The US has said it is worried about reports that the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of Nkurunziza’s CNDD-FDD party, had been armed, an allegation the government denies.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest A masked man walks during a protest against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

The EU is withholding €2m (£1.4m) of aid to Burundi. Belgium, Burundi’s former colonial power, has also announced a suspension of electoral aid, opting to withhold half of the €4m it had set aside for the polls, and said it would pull out of a €5m police cooperation deal funded jointly with the Netherlands.

More than 50,000 people have fled Burundi since early April, at least half of whom have gone to Rwanda, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Almost 18,000 have fled to Tanzania and 8,000 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some of the refugees now arriving in Rwanda say they are running from the Imbonerakure.