General to head transitional council

Leaders of a coup in Burkina Faso have named Gilbert Diendere, a general in the elite presidential guard, to head a transitional council, the soldiers said in a statement broadcast on state-run television on Thursday.

The statement also announced the closure of the West African nation's land and air borders as well as the implementation of an overnight curfew.

On Thursday, soldiers fired warning shots to disperse a crowd of more than 100 people gathered in the central Independence Square to protest against the presidential guard, a Reuters witness said.