warzone Antananarivo! Colonels in the outposts again

In March 2009, Marc Ravalomanana was wise enough to refrain from ordering the assault against the Capsat unit, a base camp located in a popular district, Andry Rajoelina doesn’t have this maturity. The Emmo Reg forces, regularly involved in repressing opposition demonstrations have assaulted the National State Police’s Intervention Forces’ base camp on Thursday morning at 10:00 am. Gunshots have been shaking the Andrainarivo and Antanimora districts for a while. After a tense period, sporadic shots and some loud bangs have been heard at 11 30.  

On Wednesday evening, the FIGN forces began to erect barricades. The « refractory » colonel Raymond Andrianjafy’s men, now enemies of the HAT, were meaning to « protect the base camp and not a stroke of state « . The FIGN would have planned to produce a speech on the national radio waves. In the end, some military spies would have thwarted the pending « anti-HATmutiny « . Colonel Andrianjafy  would have replied to colonel Ravalomanana’s provocation addressed to politicians: « Let those deprived with force keep quiet ».  

Measured panic has engulfed the surrounding streets. Cars deviated from regular roads at high speed, schools released pupils. The streets have long been emptied from vehicles when people began to run. Merchants and grocery stores instinctly reacted from fear of depredations. Main streets easily got plugged up with traffic jam. Everybody was listening to the gunshots, everyone was suspended to each blast.  

« I worry for my mother, she joined Fort Duchesne with pastors « , confided a quaking woman, with a baby in the arms. A young man wearing an oversweating shirt tried to reassure her. « The civilians have been expelled long before the confrontation… everybody ran, it was indeed hot, it was not a shooting or two, there one some dozens at a time », he told. 

The HAT is ready to defend its unilateral power with the use of force. So was general Vital’s job as Prime minister. But what about the Lt colonel Lylson, the Lt colonel Charles Andrianasoavina and their HAT Special Task Force? the usual HAT armed mavericks? Would they join the party and dance with the woolves?