Attempted coup is underway, says Madagascar’s President

Antananarivo: Madagascar’s president said on Sunday that an attempted coup was underway in the Indian Ocean country, just a day after members of an elite army unit had joined youth-led protests against the government and called for the president to step down.

President Andry Rajoelina’s office offered no details on who was behind the attempt, and no signs of violence were immediately visible on the streets on Sunday. A commander of the unit, Col. Michael Randrianirina, said his troops had exchanged fire with security forces who were attempting to quell the protests on Saturday and that one of his soldiers had been killed. The elite CAPSAT unit claimed to have taken charge of the military but offered no evidence for that claim. Madagascar has been shaken by three weeks of the most significant unrest in years in the nation. The protests are led by a group calling itself “Gen Z Madagascar,” and the United Nations says the demonstrations have left at least 22 people dead and dozens injured. The government has disputed this number.

The statement from Rajoelina’s office said he “wishes to inform the nation and the international community that an attempt to seize power illegally and by force” has been “initiated.”