Deal to end Burkina school unrest

Teachers and the Burkina Faso government have reached a deal to end a strike which has led to riots.

The government has agreed to all the union’s demands for higher allowances.

The deal comes after students staged violent protests in support of the teachers in the western town of Gaoua.

In the latest demonstration against President Blaise Compaore, his official residence in the town was attacked, along with the ruling party offices. Soldiers have also protested this week.

Analysts say this is the biggest challenge to Mr Compaore since he seized power in 1987.

The BBC’s Mathieu Bonkoungou in the capital, Ouagadougou, says the schools have not yet re-opened as the unions say they need time to spread the message to their members.

He says there has been no official comment on the protest by soldiers, who fired guns into the air on Monday.

Last month, the police, soldiers, farmers and merchants staged separate protests in different parts of the country to press the government to take action to help them cope with rising prices.

The economy of landlocked Burkina Faso was badly hit by the crisis in its larger, richer neighbour, Ivory Coast.

After parts of the army mutinied in April, President Compaore sacked the government and appointed himself minister of defence.

Trouble began on 14 April when soldiers and presidential guards in the Ouagadougou staged a protest over unpaid housing allowances.

Tens of thousands of people also took to the streets to demonstrate against high food prices.

One of Africa’s poorest countries, Burkina Faso has significant reserves of gold, but cotton production is its economic mainstay.