Burundi dissident general orders closure of airport, borders as Burundi president flies home after coup attempt

Burundi coup general orders closure of airport, borders as Burundi president flies home after coup attempt

General Godefroid Niyombare, the Burundian general trying to overthrow the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza, Wednesday ordered the closure of Bujumbura airport and land borders. This is an attempt to stop President Nkurunziza, who is on his way back to Burundi from Tanzania. 

“I order the closure of the airport and border, and I ask every citizen and law enforcement down to the airport to protect it,” General Godefroid Niyombare said in a private radio broadcast. 

Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader is flying home to Burundi hours after the attempted coup was announced, while he was attending a regional crisis meeting in neighbouring Tanzania. 

“He has left because of the situation prevailing in Burundi,” Tanzanian government spokesman Salva Rweyemamu told AFP, adding that Nkurunziza was heading back to the Burundi capital Bujumbura.

the coup is already loosing momentum as the Burundian army rallies around President Nkurunziza, who described the coup as a joke!
Related Story

• Profile of President Pierre Nkurunziza - The Burundi President who wants a 3rd term and survived a coup
• Military coup underway in Burundi. Dissident army officers attempt to take control of government. President Nkuruziza's Army still in charge