The head of Burkina Faso's armed forces announced on Thursday the dissolution of the national assembly and the creation of a national transitional government to last a maximum of 12 months, though he did not say who would lead it.
"A transitional body will be put in place in consultation with all parties. A return to the constitutional order is expected in no more than 12 months," General Honore Traore told a news conference after a day of violent protests in the capital.
This comes after Burkina Faso opposition leader Zephirin Diabre rejected a state of emergency ordered by President Blaise Compaore and said the West African leader's resignation was the only solution to the country's crisis.
Diabre called on supporters to show that they were against the state of emergency announced after thousands of protesters stormed parliament and state television, forcing the government to abandon plans to change the constitution to allow Compaore to stand for re-election next year.
"The state of emergency is unacceptable. We are calling on the people to show that they are against it," he told Radio Omega, a local broadcaster. "The resignation of President Blaise Compaore is the only thing that can bring peace to the country."
Thousands of protesters marched on Burkina Faso's presidential palace after burning the parliament building and ransacking state television offices on Thursday, forcing President Blaise Compaore to scrap a plan to extend his 27-year rule.
Emergency services said at least three protesters were shot dead and several others wounded by security forces when the crowd tried to storm the home of Compaore's brother. Security forces also fired live rounds and tear gas at protesters near the presidency in the Ouaga 2000 neighborhood.
Black smoke swirled in the air above parliament after demonstrators lit fires inside the building before looting computers and televisions screens and wheeling away police motor-bikes, a Reuters reporter said.
Lawmakers had been due to vote on Thursday on a government plan to change the constitution to allow Compaore - who took power in a coup in 1987 - to stand for re-election next year, when he was due to stand down.
Alain Edouard Traore, communications minister, later said the government had dropped the proposal to amend a two-term limit on the presidential mandate.
But protesters told Reuters they would not stop until Compaore was forced to step aside. Burkinabe officials said there were also large-scale protests in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina's second biggest town, and Ouahigouya, to the north.
"We did this because Blaise was trying to stay too long. We are tired of him," said Seydou Kabre, a protester in the crowd in Ouagadougou. "We want a change. He must go!"
Most deputies had not yet arrived for the vote when protesters, who had set up barricades outside parliament from early on Thursday, stormed the building. The crowd surged forward after police fired warning shots in the air.
A Reuters reporter saw nearby structures also on fire and vehicles outside the parliament being smashed.
State television was forced off the air after the building was taken. Soldiers deployed outside state radio with an armoured personnel carrier to defend it from the crowd.
Opposition leader Zephirin Diabre said on his Twitter feed he was opposed to any coup in Burkina Faso just hours after he had urged armed forces to join the people in a speech broadcast live from his headquarters.
Local radio and a diplomatic source said opposition leaders held talks with an influential army General Kouame Lougue about a possible transition. The same diplomatic source said members of Compaore's government had been arrested at the airport trying to leave the country.
A Reuters witness said protesters took one of the dead bodies from the streets and wrapped it in the national flag, while softly singing Burkina's anthem. They then drove it to the central Place de la Nation, where more protesters had gathered.
REUTERS