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Wed Apr 27,9:23 am ETOUAGADOUGOU (AFP) – Violent protests erupted anew inthe troubled town of Koudougou in Burkina Faso where angry shopkeepersand students set fire to the mayor's home and a police headquarters,witnesses told AFP.
Koudougou, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of the capital, was thebirthplace of a wave of protests in the west African country two monthsago, placing growing pressure on long-serving leader Blaise Compaore, inpower for 24 years.
On Wednesday, shopkeepers protested a decision by mayor Seydou Zagre, amember of the ruling party, to close some 40 shops which had failed topay local taxes. Students later joined the march by several hundredpeople.
Witnesses said the angry crowd set fire to the mayor's home, localmunicipal police headquarters and a local public developmentestablishment.
The first protest in Koudougou took place on February 22 when studentstook to the streets, saying a school pupil said to have died ofmeningitis was in fact tortured and killed in police custody.
Allegations of impunity in the police, torture and cover-ups and thehigh cost of living have led to a wave of protests among all sectors ofthe population against Compaore's regime.
Soldiers also mutinied, over the imprisonment of several colleagues forsex crimes and later for better pay and working conditions, going on therampage in several towns across the country.
At least six people have been killed and many injured during theprotests, while mass looting by mutinous soldiers led to considerablematerial damage. A curfew in the capital Ouagadougou has been in placesince mid-April.
Compaore tried to quell the unrest by firing his government and severalmilitary chiefs, and ordering the payment of bonuses to soldiers.
He also named himself defence minister and appointed a new primeminister, former ambassador Luc Adolphe Tiao.
The opposition has called for a large protest on Saturday againstCompaore, who after seizing power in a 1987 coup has been re-electedfour times since 1991, with over 80 percent in contested polls.
Adding to the country's ills are woeful social conditions, with much ofthe 16 million population living on barely one euro a day, while pricesof basic goods continue to rise and political elites live opulent lives,according to the opposition.