Under siege II (a different perspective)

The setting.
I’m in the Villa 43 outside the city centre; Belinda’s in her apartment at the heart of the city. I’m asleep, she’s not. It’s 00.45.

The events.
Woken up by my phone ringing. Hearing Belinda explain - trembling voice - ‘there’s gunfire in the centre’, she doesn’t know what’s going on. I’m walking outside on the terrace, hearing it too, quite a lot of gunfire, quite a lot of places it’s coming from. She doesn’t want me to come over. I'm telling her that I’ll go outside into the streets to have a look, see if I can get some explanation and a promise to call her back. Neighbors on the streets. Apparently a battalion of soldiers got into town to create some uproar, in order to defend their colleagues who got sentenced to a bit more than a year for attacking a civilian - and from there the sources are different: some say it’s because some soldiers attacked the civilian as a revenge for a relationship with a wife of one of the soldiers, some keep it to a dispute which went out of control.
A civilian jeep driving through the main road, front window smashed, probably stolen (confirmed later), filled with soldiers, firing in the air, stopping just outside here. No more fuel. They get out, start yelling too, the neighbors and me start running and seeking cover. Eventually they disappear.
About 45 minutes after the first call, after a lot of talks to and advice from the neighbors and a couple of phone calls to Belinda how the situation is in the centre, I decide to take the risk to go out to to the apartment on my motorbike, avoiding the main roads as much as possible. One last phone call to her to inform on the last things I’ve heard and to ask her how she’s doing; a promise give her a call in 30 minutes for an update. Enough time to get to the apartment. No way I’m telling her at this stage I’m coming over.
So I head off. Can’t avoid all main roads. Just on the first main road I need to take, I see some soldiers attacking a civilian, a local guy on his bike, and a severe beating it seems, but I don’t stop. After 1km I get halted by a soldier who puts himself behind me on the motorbike, and orders me to start driving. Luckily after about 500m he decides it’s enough, tells me to stop, asks me ‘ca va’ and says I can go on. The next part of the route towards the apartment I can take using smaller roads. No street lights, and almost nobody outside.
On the last part of the route where I can’t avoid the main roads again, I am less lucky, as 4 soldiers stop me - their weapons pointed at me, ask me where I’m going, and start shouting ‘on veut de l’argent pour l’eau’ (we want money for some water). The first 5.000 CFA (enough for 5 liters of bottled water) doesn’t seem enough, and while one of the soldiers has taken the key of the motorbike, there’s no other option than handing him over the rest of the money I got with me. I don't care. They are satisfied with the 40.000 CFA. Finally, I get my key back, and start riding again. The last intersection I cross with blind eyes and high speed - a soldier wants to stop me but is too late, and finally I arrive at Belinda’s apartment, lock the bike, and get into the building. 5 minutes before I promised to call back, I give her a call to ask her to open the door of the apartment.
We’ve spent the next 3 hours sitting on cushions on the ground in the hallway - to avoid any possible risks, there’s still too much gun fire. Most of the time we hear them in the streets next to the apartment, talking, yelling, but mostly firing in the air. At a certain point they smash a window of a shop, we hear the glass break and from that moment, every now and then we hear new soldiers arrive, stepping on the broken glass, probably to see what's left to steal. Sometimes we hear them banging on a metal gate a bit further down the street, they seem quite determined to enter. At some moments when it gets a bit more quiet - well, the gunfire we hear is from further away - we have a look through the windows, still hiding in the shade, to get a better idea of the situation outside. We see there’s a soldier walking back to the military camp holding a computer screen in his hands - and some young guy being harassed by a couple of soldiers on a motorbike.
Finally, most of them seem to have returned to their camp - mostly passing by the streets next to the apartment, still firing their weapons and shouting. The shop with the broken window still causes soldiers to halt. The gunfire eventually subsides. We go for a sleep round 05.00.

The conclusion.
What strikes me most is how the military acted against it’s population, the population it is part of, brought terror and fear in the city, smashed windows and looted shops. The small stalls of the market in the centre, aiming their weapons on them, destructing the possessions of people just trying to take care of their families and make a living. The clothes shop next to the apartment, smashed window, the till in bits and pieces - probably no money found, but lot's of damage created. The petrol station next to the villa, the owner not being able to open up in the morning because all windows are smashed and there’s nothing more inside. A jeep stolen from civilians, still in the street, with it’s front window broken, doors open. And many many other damages which I haven’t seen - in other sections of the city.
It seemed like being back in Kashmir - far worse even.
I’m sure that there are more events like this you don’t hear about, where the news has no time for, and the newspaper no pages.
Today the sun rose again, the city came to life, a bit quieter than usual. People expect tonight will be quiet. Within a couple of days, the windows will be replaced, and life will continue like before.

I sure have landed in a country where there's a lot of work to be done.

NOTE: There has been communication with the VSO staff on security matters, they follow the situation, and we follow their advice. Currently we’re staying at the Villa 43, outside the city centre, safe and sound.

11 comments:

  1. Glad you are safe and sound - i got goose bumps reading your blog. Next time stay inside - i'm glad Belinda had somebody with her considering it was right infront of her apartment but next time stay put ;)
    Most important is that you guys are safe and hopefully aren't too stressed about everything that has happened.
    Nicole

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  2. Damn bro, toch maar wat voorzichtig zijn ipv de prins op de witte motorfiets. Duck and stay low zegt het goede spreekwoord.
    Doe voorzichtig !!
    Broerke

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  3. Another dull day at the office...
    Exact hetzelfde overkwam me gisteren in Alphen aan den Rijn :-)
    Succes!
    Gert-Jan

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  4. Hier zijn geen woorden voor, niet te begrijpen ... tenzij je het zelf mee maakt!
    Ik moet je niet zeggen voorzichtig te zijn, dat weet je zelf wel. Hopelijk gebeurt dit niet te vaak, en misschien is samen in de villa blijven toch wel het veiligste.
    Hou van je, xxx
    PS Ben nu al 'van mijn melk', moet niet vragen wat de ervaring voor jullie moet geweest zijn!

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  5. De belgische overheid doet al waarschuwingen uitgaan (zie http://diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/Diensten/Op_reis_in_het_buitenland/reisadviezen/afrika/burkina_faso/ra_burkina_faso.jsp )
    Doen jullie voorzichtig?

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  6. Heel lief van je dat je Belinda niet alleen wilde laten. Maar wel heel gevaarlijk, voor hetzelfde geld had het niet zo goed afgelopen. Het geeft me wel een goed gevoel te weten dat ze niet alleen is in geval van nood. Maar wees toch maar heel voorzichtig, hoor. Groetjes, Astrid

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  7. Almost reads like a novel you don't want to be in.. What happened to the soldiers? Did they get arrested or am I being naive?

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  8. thanks for all replies and support!

    dank voor alle comments & steun. De waarschuwing vd Belgische overheid blijft blijkbaar staan - hier is alles weer rustig.

    Acties na de rellen deze week zijn er blijkbaar niet; wellicht om verdere escalaties te voorkomen.

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  9. Ha Kris, Geloof niet dat je je verveeld daar. Wat een verhaal man.
    Hoe is het nu daar? Rust definitief weergekeerd?
    Wees voorzichtig en veel succes,

    Roderik en Ilse

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  10. Hmz, mijn opmerking is inmiddels erg ongepast geworden...
    7 doden in Alphen a/d Rijn.
    GRTZ GJ

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  11. He Gert-Jan,

    heb erover gelezen ... verschrikkelijke gebeurtenis ...

    groet,
    kris

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