Shots heard near the presidency of Burkina Faso

Early on Friday, witnesses told AFP that gunfire was heard near the presidential palace and the military junta's headquarters in Burkina Faso, which was overthrown in a coup in January.

Several major thoroughfares in the capital city of Ouagadougou were blocked by military personnel, and state television aired a blank screen with the message "no video signal," according to AFP correspondents.

A resident who lives close to the presidential palace told AFP, "I heard heavy detonations around 4:30 am (0430 GMT), and now the roads around my home have been shut off by military vehicles."

An AFP journalist reported that troops were posted at the city's major intersections, particularly in the neighborhood of Ouaga 2000, which houses the presidential and military junta headquarters, as well as outside the headquarters of state television.

A junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba now controls Burkina Faso.

Roch Marc Christian Kabore, an elected leader who had failed to quell a jihadist insurgency, was overthrown and replaced by him in a coup in January. The security situation, however, has not changed.

In the nation's north on Monday, suspected terrorists ambushed a convoy. According to the authorities, there were about 50 missing civilians and 11 troops.

The nation, a former French colony, has more than 40% of its territory that is ungoverned.

Since the insurgency entered Burkina Faso in 2015, thousands have perished in the fighting, and two million people have been forced to flee their homes.

The insurgency, which has extended to Niger, is being fought in large portions of the Sahel area. In recent years, the violence has started to spread into the coastal nations of Togo and Ivory Coast.