Madagascar president warns of attempted coup after soldiers join protests

Madagascar's presidency said on Sunday that "an attempted illegal and forcible seizure of power" was underway in the African nation, without providing details, a day after some soldiers joined a protest movement that had begun last month.

Troops from the elite CAPSAT unit that helped President Andry Rajoelina seize power in a 2009 coup, urged fellow soldiers to disobey orders and back the youth-led protests, which began on 25 September and pose the most serious challenge to Rajoelina's rule since his reelection in 2023. 

A Reuters witness saw three people injured after shots were fired along a road to the CAPSAT barracks on Sunday. Other witnesses said there was no sign of ongoing clashes.

RIVAL FORCES CLAIM TO COMMAND SECURITY OPERATIONS

Rival forces claimed on Sunday to have command over security operations in the country, with one group representing the CAPSAT soldiers, saying it would coordinate all branches of the military from its base on the outskirts of Antananarivo.

Spokespeople for the defence ministry and the military general staff declined to comment.

The gendarmerie, which has tackled the protests for the last few weeks together with the police and has been accused by protesters of using excessive force, said its orders would come "exclusively from the National Gendarmerie Command Center."

The protests, inspired by Gen Z-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, began over water and electricity shortages but have since escalated, with demonstrators calling for Rajoelina to step down, apologise for violence against protesters, and dissolve the Senate and electoral commission.

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