Burkina Faso has new PM as violence continue

A new prime minister was appointed in the violence-plagued African country as police forces joined the military in staging protests and students and merchants rioted against its leader Blaise Compaoré.

Luc-Adolphe Tiao was named the new prime minister of one of the world's poorest countries Burkina Faso today after Tertius Zongo was axed on Friday.

Never holding a government post before, the 56-year-old Tiao was a journalist and was a former director of the government-run newspaper Sidwaya. He was ex-chief of the Superior Communication Council, said the Herald Sun.

Monday saw the paramilitary police taking part for the first time in the uprising that began in Ouagadougou, the West African country's capital, on Thursday, in an earlier report, as they demanded for their allowances and was to be paid today.

At least 45 people were injured and a score of rape cases were reported by hospital officials on Saturday amid the social instability.

Residents said the army and police stormed the streets by firing shots into the air, setting on fire the home of an army official and breaking in to a regional office on the northern town of Kaya, the fourth town to be affected by violence after Ouagadougou, and southern towns of Po and Tenkodogo.

What initially was a peaceful march turned into an outrage when student protesters in Koudougou in western part of the country set ablaze the residence of ex-PM Zongo, the headquarters of the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP)--the country's ruling party-- said the AP.

The mutiny then spread to northern and eastern parts of the country that ranks 161st among 169 countries having the lowest quality of life according to the UN Human Development Index.

The reason the students were protesting was due to the death of a male student in February who was killed by the police according to his family and whom the authorities said was sick.

They chanted, "We want to make the ruling power... look into our concerns" and establish "truth and justice for Justin Zongo and all victims of repression."

On Saturday, in protest against soldiers looting their shops, hundreds of merchants torched the headquarters of the CDP.

On Sunday, the government warned against any person using illegal weapons with the "full force of the law."

"This state of affairs will not be tolerated in a state with the rule of law."

Details of this report here.