Enterprise-Record (Chico)

Army officers appear on TV, declare new coup

- By Sam Mednick and Arsene Kabore

OUAGADOUGO­U, BURKINA FASO >> More than a dozen soldiers seized control of Burkina Faso’s state television late Friday, declaring that the country’s coup leader-turned-president, Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had been overthrown after only nine months in power.

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 mounting Islamic insurgency.

Burkina Faso’s new military leaders said the country’s borders had been closed and a curfew would be in effect from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. The transition­al government and national assembly were ordered dissolved.

Damiba and his allies overthrew the democratic­ally elected president, coming to power with promises of make the country more secure. 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, Capt. Kiswendsid­a Farouk Azaria Sorgho.

The soldiers promised the internatio­nal community they would respect their commitment­s and urged Burkinabes “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.

Damiba had just returned from addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York as Burkina

Faso’s head of state. Tensions, though, had been mounting for months. 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.

Constantin Gouvy, Burkina Faso researcher at Clingendae­l, said Friday night’s events “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 told The Associated Press.

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.”

Friday’s developmen­ts felt all too familiar in West Africa, where a coup in Mali in August 2020 set off a series of military power grabs in the region. Mali also saw a second coup nine months after the August 2020 overthrow of its president, when the junta’s leader sidelined his civilian transition counterpar­ts and put himself alone in charge.

On the streets of Ouagadougo­u, some people already were showing support Friday for the change in leadership even before the putschists took to the state airwaves.

Francois Beogo, a political activist from the Movement for the Refounding of Burkina Faso, said Damiba “has showed his limits.”

“People were expecting a real change,” he said of the January coup d’etat.

Some demonstrat­ors voiced support for Russian involvemen­t in order to stem the violence, and shouted slogans against

France, Burkina Faso’s former colonizer. In neighborin­g Mali, the junta invited Russian mercenarie­s from the Wagner Group to help secure the country, though their deployment has drawn internatio­nal criticism.

Many in Burkina Faso initially supported the military takeover last January, frustrated with the previous government’s inability to stem Islamic extremist violence that has killed thousands and displaced at least 2 million.

Yet the violence has failed to wane in the months since Damiba took over. Earlier this month, he also took on the position of defense minister after dismissing a brigadier general from the post.

“It’s hard for the Burkinabe junta to claim that it has delivered on its promise of improving the security situation, which was its pretext for the January coup,” said Eric Humphery-Smith, senior Africa analyst at the risk intelligen­ce company Verisk Maplecroft.

 ?? THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Demonstrat­ors gather near the Thomas Sankara memorial in Ouagadougo­u with Burkina Faso and Russian flags in support of what they believe to be another military coup on Friday.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Demonstrat­ors gather near the Thomas Sankara memorial in Ouagadougo­u with Burkina Faso and Russian flags in support of what they believe to be another military coup on Friday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States