http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/burkina-president/1444448.html?cid=TWTCNA&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
President Blaise Compaore declared a state of emergency in Burkina Faso on Thursday (Oct 30) after angry demonstrators set parliament ablaze in an uprising against his long-standing regime.
Protesters earlier forced the government to scrap a vote on controversial plans to allow Compaore to extend his 27-year rule, with tens of thousands of people joining a mass rally in the capital Ouagadougou calling for the strongman to go.
Compaore's bid to cling to power has angered many, including young people in a country where 60 percent of the population of almost 17 million is under 25.
Many have spent their entire lives under the leadership of one man and - with Burkina Faso stagnating at 183rd out of 186 countries on the UN human development index - many have had enough.
The situation is being closely watched across Africa where at least four heads of state are preparing or considering similar changes to stay in power, from Burundi to Benin.
"A state of emergency has been declared throughout the country," a statement from the presidency read late Thursday. "The army chief of staff is charged with carrying out this decree, which enters into force from this day."
The document was not dated and carried a signature that did not resemble the president's usual one.
The government is facing its worst crisis since a wave of mutinies shook the country in 2011. Police and soldiers, out in force after mass rallies earlier this week, have failed to stop the onslaught despite using tear gas against the protesters.
Black smoke billowed out of smashed windows at the parliament building, where several offices were ravaged by flames, although the main chamber so far appeared to be unscathed.
Several hundred protesters also broke into the headquarters of the national television station RTB, pillaging equipment and smashing cars, correspondents said.
Crowds of people later massed near the presidential palace but were being held back by troops from the presidential guard who fired warning shots into the air.
The ruling party headquarters in the second city of Bobo Dioulasso and the city hall was also torched by protesters, witnesses said.
"October 30 is Burkina Faso's Black Spring, like the Arab Spring," said Emile Pargui Pare of the opposition Movement of People for Progress (MPP).
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dispatched a special envoy to Burkina Faso, with a spokesman saying Ban was "following with great concern the deteriorating security situation in Burkina Faso."
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