Madagascar's presidency says an attempt to grab power by force is under way in the African country as more soldiers joined a youth-led protest movement.

Troops from the elite CAPSAT unit that helped President Andry Rajoelina seize power in a 2009 coup, urged fellow soldiers to disobey orders on Saturday and back the youth-led protests, which began on September 25 and pose the most serious challenge to Rajoelina's rule since his re-election in 2023.

CAPSAT officers said on Sunday they had command over the country's security operations and would co-ordinate all branches of the military from their base on the outskirts of the capital Antananarivo.

They said they had appointed General Demosthene Pikulas as head of the army.

A unit of the paramilitary gendarmerie, which had so far tackled t

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