Military Junta announce full takeover of power in Burkina Faso over ‘insecurity’

Agency Report

The military in Burkina Faso says it has seized power and overthrown President Roch Kaboré.

The announcement was made on state television by an army officer, who cited the deteriorating security situation as the reason for the military takeover.

Mr Kaboré had faced growing discontent over his failure to stem an Islamist insurgency.

The army statement said Mr Kaboré had failed to unite the nation and to deal effectively with the security crisis which “threatens the very foundations of our nation”.

Meanwhile, his whereabouts are unclear, but the officer said that all those detained were in a secure location

The coup was made public a day after troops seized barracks, and gunshots were heard in the capital, Ouagadougou.

The ruling People’s Movement for Progress (PMP) party has earlier said that both Mr Kaboré and a government minister had survived an assassination attempt.

The statement was issued in the name of a group not heard of previously, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration or MPSR, its French acronym.

The statement was signed by Lt-Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who is believed to be the coup leader and a senior commander with years of experience fighting the Islamist militants, but read out by another officer.

The statement added that parliament and the government had been dissolved, and the constitution suspended, but promised a “return to constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”.

The military also announced the closure of Burkina Faso’s borders.

UN chief António Guterres condemned the coup and called on the military to “ensure the protection and the physical integrity” of Mr Kaboré.

The African Union and regional bloc, ECOWAS, have also condemned the forceful takeover of power, adding that it holds the soldiers responsible for the deposed president’s well-being.

Some security sources revealed that the president and other government ministers are being held at the Sangoulé Lamizana barracks in the capital.

Hundreds of people came out in support of the soldiers and some of them set fire to the ruling party’s headquarters.

The coup comes a week after 11 soldiers were arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow Mr Kaboré.

There has been growing tension in Burkina Faso over the government’s failure to defeat an Islamist insurgency in the country since 2015.

That escalated in November, when 53 people, mainly members of the security forces, were killed by suspected jihadists. And on Saturday, a banned rally to protest against the government’s perceived failure led to dozens of arrests.

Mutinying soldiers made several demands, including: the removal of the army’s chief of staff and the head of the intelligence service; more troops to be deployed to the front line; and better conditions for the wounded and soldiers’ families.

Similar troubles in neighbouring Mali led to a military coup in May 2021 – one that was broadly welcomed by the public.

Burkina Faso is now the third West African country to witness a military takeover in recent years. Guinea and Mali have had sanctions imposed on them by ECOWAS to press them to return to constitutional order.