Captain Ibrahim Traoré takes charge of Burkina Faso in second coup
Ouagadougou- The Burkinabé army under the command of Captain Ibrahim Traoré took over the leadership of the country from Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba on Friday evening for failing to stem a jihadist insurgency.
Captain Traoré led other military officers to take control of Burkina Faso on Friday evening. He claimed that Colonel Damiba failed to bring peace to the jihadist-ravaged country because they sacked a junta leader who himself came to power in a coup in beginning of this year.
Speaking to Voice of America last Friday, the 34-year-old captain accused Colonel Damiba of failing to unite the country.
“We have decided to take our responsibilities, driven by a single ideal: the restoration of the security and integrity of our territory. Our common ideal has been betrayed by our leader in whom we had placed all our trust. Far from liberating occupied territories, once peaceful areas have come under terrorist control. said Captain Traoré.
The rebel military also announced the closure of air and land borders from midnight, as well as the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of the transitional government and legislative assembly.
Captain Traore previously led the anti-jihadist special forces unit known as “Cobra” in the northern Kaya region.
Currently, the overthrown leader, Colonel Damiba, remains unknown.
The United States expressed deep concern about the situation in Ouagadougou and encouraged its citizens to limit travel within the country.
A State Department spokesperson called on Captain Traoré for a return to calm and restraint by all actors.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) condemned in the strongest terms the seizure of power by force that has just taken place.
ECOWAS called the latest coup “inappropriate” at a time when it said progress was being made towards a return to constitutional order by July 1, 2024.
The French foreign ministry has told its citizens in the city, believed to number 4,000 to 5,000, to stay at home.
In Brussels, the European Union said it was “concerned” by the events taking place in the Burkinabe capital.
Earlier on Friday, Damiba’s Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR) said there was an “internal crisis in the army” prompting troop deployments in key areas of the capital.
AFP journalists saw soldiers blocking several main roads and intersections in Ouagadougou, with soldiers also stationed outside the state television centre.
Government spokesman Lionel Bilgo had said the “crisis” involved a dispute over army salaries and that Damiba was involved in the negotiations.
In the morning, shots rang out in the Ouaga 2000 district, which houses both the headquarters of the presidential and military junta.
“I heard loud bangs around 4:30 a.m. and now the roads around my house have been cordoned off by military vehicles,” said a resident near the presidential palace.
State television was cut for several hours before the military announcement, showing just a blank screen with the message “no video signal”.
In the afternoon, an AFP journalist saw a group of several hundred people gather in a town square to make various demands, including the departure of Damiba and the end of the French military presence.
By evening, soldiers were still in place at key points in the city and the streets were mostly deserted.
GAROWE ONLINE
