Burkina Faso’s army seized power on Thursday after protesters burned government buildings in anger over President Blaise Compaore ’s plan to extend his 27-year rule.
The landlocked nation had been one of the most stable in tumultuous West Africa, until the army declared Mr. Compaore’s government dissolved. It said it would stage elections within a year, in a statement stamped and signed by Gen. Honoré Nabéré Traoré.
Elections had already been planned for next year, but 63-year-old Mr. Compaore—who has served four terms—had asked Parliament to approve a law on Thursday that would have given him free rein to seek a fifth.