Over a dozen soldiers from Burkina Faso’s army led by Captain Ibrahim Traore have overthrown Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nine months after he seized power.
In a statement read by a junta spokesman said Capt. Ibrahim Traore is the new military leader of Burkina Faso, a volatile West African country that is battling a spiralling insurgency.
Burkina Faso’s new military leaders have issued a curfew effective from 9:00 p.m to 5:00 a.m., while the country’s borders had been closed.
The transitional government and national assembly were ordered dissolved.
Damiba and his allies overthrew the democratically elected president, coming to power with promises to secure the country.
However, violence has continued unabated and frustration with his leadership has grown in recent months.
“Faced by the continually worsening security situation, we the officers and junior officers of the national armed forces were motivated to take action with the desire to protect the security and integrity of our country,” said the statement read by the junta spokesman, Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho.
The soldiers promised the protect international community and their representatives in the country. They urged citizens “to go about their business in peace.”
“A meeting will be convened to adopt a new transitional constitution charter and to select a new Burkina Faso president be it civilian or military,” Sorgho added.
Tensions had been mounting for months. Damiba had just returned from addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York as Burkina Faso’s head of state, where he restated his commitment towards peaceful transition to civilian rule.
In his speech, Damiba defended his January coup as “an issue of survival for our nation,” even if it was “perhaps reprehensible” to the international community.
Burkina Faso researcher at Clingendael, Constantin Gouvy said Friday night’s event “follow escalating tensions within the ruling MPSR junta and the wider army about strategic and operational decisions to tackle spiraling insecurity.”
“Members of the MPSR increasingly felt Damiba was isolating himself and casting aside those who helped him seize power,” Gouvy added.
Gunfire had erupted in the capital, Ouagadougou, early Friday and hours passed without any public appearance by Damiba. Late in the afternoon, his spokesman posted a statement on the presidency’s Facebook page saying that “negotiations are underway to bring back calm and serenity.”
Few days ago, a supply convoy was attacked by assailants in Gaskinde commune in Soum province in the Sahel resulting in the death of at least 11 soldiers and 50 missing civilians.
That attack likely inspired the young soldiers into getting Damiba out of the way.