The military government of Burkina Faso announced that it had prevented “several attempts to destabilise the country” instigated by a former senior military official who previously took control of the West African nation.
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana, in a statement broadcast on state television on Monday, stated, “We managed to thwart several destabilisation attempts.”
He disclosed that Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was deposed in 2022, had spearheaded the “military aspect of this conspiracy”. Damiba had seized power in a coup in January 2022, ousting elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Less than eight months later, Damiba was overthrown by Ibrahim Traore, the 34-year-old captain currently in charge.
Sana also disclosed that several individuals, including Ahmed Kinda, a former leader of the country’s special forces, had been detained in connection with the plot.
Under Traore’s leadership, the landlocked West African nation swiftly distanced itself from former colonial power France and pledged to combat a rampant insurgency that entered from neighbouring Mali in 2015.
Burkina Faso has since sought military support from Russia and strengthened its relations with Iran and Turkey, as well as with fellow Sahel countries Mali and Niger, both of which are also governed by military administrations combating insurgencies.