Burkina Faso’s Presidential Guard Release Interim President Day After Apparent Coup

The announcement said that a new "national democratic council" had replaced the West African nation's "deviant regime," the BBC reported.

The move — just weeks before general elections were due to be held — comes after the country's transitional president and prime minister were arrested by the military's elite presidential guard unit on Wednesday.

Fanny Noaro, a journalist based in the capital, Ougadougou, told Al Jazeera: "There is a lot of military on the street."

Coup leaders later declared Gilbert Diendéré — long-time former aide to ex-President Blaise Campoare — as leader until "inclusive and peaceful" elections could be held, France 24 reported.

Diendére told Jeune Afrique Thursday: "We went into action to prevent the destabilization of Burkina."

The capital came to a standstill Thursday — with people staying indoors for their own safety and gunfire being heard in the streets. A number of radio stations are offline, and one was ransacked and burned down, according to pro-democracy campaigner Serge-Martin Bambara, speaking to the BBC.

Elections were due to be held in Burkina Faso on Oct. 11. The transitional government came to power late last year, after strongman president Blaise Compaore was toppled after 27 years in a popular uprising many had hailed as the model for an "African Spring."