Burkina Faso military personnel. File photo.
The government of Burkina Faso announced that an attempted coup d’état in the country was foiled and some agents involved in it were arrested.
According to the official statement of Burkina Faso’s leadership, those involved in this destabilization attempt aimed to sabotage the process of recovering the nation’s sovereignty.
The coup attempt of September 26, 2023, was aimed at attacking state institutions and plunging the nation into chaos, the statement specified.
On the morning of Wednesday, September 26, Burkina Faso authorities reported that a large number of people marched to the center of Ouagadougou, the capital, in support of the interim president, Ibrahim Traoré, after reports circulated on social media about the foiled coup.
On September 3, Military Prosecutor Alphonse Zorma announced the arrest of three military personnel accused of conspiring against state security and opened an investigation into the matter.
On September 30, 2022, a group of soldiers from the special anti-terrorist unit Cobras overthrew the coup President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had assumed power in January of the same year.
The initial demands of the military were personal: the release of Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana and the payment of outstanding salaries to the unit.
However, soon the leader of the uprising, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, accused Damiba of inability to deal with the security crisis and the spiraling violence in the country. Traoré also criticized the Transitional Junta’s management of internal and foreign policy. Since then, Traoré has led the West African country.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
