ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina was toppled Tuesday in a military coup that capped weeks of youth protests over poverty, power outages and a lack of opportunity in the Indian Ocean island country.

Right after parliament voted to impeach Rajoelina , who fled the country fearing for his safety, the leader of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT military unit said the armed forces would form a council made up of officers from the armed forces and gendarmerie, a military unit that polices civilians, and would appoint a prime minister to “quickly” form a civilian government.

“We are taking power,” Col. Michael Randrianirina told reporters in front of a ceremonial presidential palace in the capital, Antananarivo, as protesters celebrated the news with soldiers. He

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