Madagascar's president said Sunday that a coup attempt was underway in the Indian Ocean country, one day after members of a top army unit 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, the AP reports. A commander of the unit said that 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 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 there in years. The protests are led by a group called 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." It added a call for "all forces of the nation to unite in defense of constitutional order and national sovereignty."
Madagascar, an island of 31 million people off the east coast of Africa, has had several leaders removed in coups and has a history of political crises since it gained independence from France in 1960. On Saturday, CAPSAT forces joined the weekslong protests against the president, and Col. Michael Randrianirina, a commander, said Rajoelina, his new prime minister, the minister of the gendarmerie, and the commander of the gendarmerie "must leave power. That's all." Speaking to crowds from an armored vehicle, he said: "Do we call this a coup? I don't know yet."
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
