A mutinied army unit declared Sunday that it was taking control of all Madagascar military forces as President Andry Rajoelina said an “attempt to seize power illegally” was under way.

The CAPSAT contingent of administrative and technical officers joined thousands of protesters in the city centre on Saturday in a major shift in a more than two-week anti-government protest movement.

The unit had earlier declared that it would “refuse orders to shoot” and criticised the gendarmerie, who have been accused of using heavy-handed tactics against protesters, causing several deaths.

But Sunday the CAPSAT officers claimed in a video statement that “from now on, all orders of the Malagasy army — whether land, air or the navy — will originate from CAPSAT headquarters”.

The officers said they had

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