20120322
Press TV
Malian soldiers have mutinied, attacked the presidential palace in capital Bamako, and taken full control of the state broadcaster, spreading fears of a coup d’etat .
Tensions have heightened in Bamako and other cities since Wednesday morning.
A diplomat confirmed that armored vehicles had sealed off the presidential palace and traded gunfire with the presidential guard outside the palace on Wednesday night.
The troopers seized parts of the capital before capturing the Malian Radio-Television Office (ORTM) around 16:30 GMT.
Heavy gunfire was reported near the state television’s building followed by a five-hour-long power cut, which affected most parts of the capital, witnesses said.
The mutinous soldiers have widely fired shots in the air, creating panic in the streets of the city.
The mutineers are angry as the government has failed to stamp out an insurgency in the north of Sahara Desert, which has killed dozens of people and forced nearly 200,000 civilians to flee their homes.
A sergeant among the mutineers, who had asked not to be named, said the soldiers have been urging the government to supply them with better weapons to fight the rebels, but to no avail. He added that the forces now wanted the ouster of President Amadou Toumani Toure, who has been in power since 2002.
Defense Ministry and diplomatic sources say there is a coup attempt.
“We now know it is a coup d’etat that they are attempting,” an official from the ministry said on condition of anonymity.
Toure, however, denied coup reports and said that he would step down after upcoming elections in April.
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