By Musa Mdluli

MBABANE:Some groups of Madagascan soldiers have defied orders and joined thousands of antigovernment protesters assembled in the capital-Antananarivo, as demonstrations against President Andry Rajoelina’s rule gain momentum, Aljazeera reported on Saturday.

The youth-led protesters entered the capital’s May 13 Square on Saturday for the first time in one of the biggest gatherings since a protest movement inspired by what has become known as the Gen Z protests in Kenya and Nepal erupted on the Indian Ocean island on September 25.

But after police used stun grenades and tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, soldiers arrived at the scene, where they were welcomed with cheers.

At a meeting at an army barracks on the outskirts of the city earlier, soldiers in the elite CAPSAT unit, which played a pivotal role in Rajoelina’s rise in 2009, issued a rare public call for solidarity as demonstrators demanded the president’s resignation.

“Let us join forces, military, gendarmes and police, and refuse to be paid to shoot our friends, our brothers and our sisters,” the soldiers at the base in the Soanierana district said in a video posted on social media.

The soldiers urged other members of the security forces to defy others from their superiors loyal to President Rajoelina.

“Close the gates, and await our instructions. Do not obey orders from your superiors. Point your weapons at those who order you to fire on your comrades in arms because they will not take care of our families if we die”, they said through the video.