Burkina Faso Military Foil Attempted Coup
The military junta in Burkina Faso on Wednesday,27th September 2023, stated that some army officials had planned to seize power and plunge the nation into "chaos". The attempt was halted by Burkina Faso's Security and Intelligence Services on Tuesday,26th September, 2023.
Rimtalba Jean, a spokesman for the ruling military said, "Officers and other alleged actors involved in this attempt at destabilization have been arrested and others are actively sought."
On Tuesday evening, a large number of individuals gathered in the city of Ouagadougou in response to a request from Traore's followers to support him against alleged coup rumors circulating on social platforms.
Recall that on January 24, 2022 ,Burkina Faso's army under the leadership of Paul Henri Damiba deposed president Roch Kabore who had spent over six years in power. The coup happened after days of unrest at Ouagadougou,the country's capital.
The failure of Kabore's administration to unite the country and deal with the security situations of the ISIS group and Al-qaeda were given as reasons for overthrowing the civilian government.
Interim President Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power on September 30, 2022 after Paul Henri Damiba, the military leader and president was deposed. All these happened within eight months in 2022. Both takeovers were partly instigated by dissatisfaction over the inability to contain a fierce jihadist rebellion that infiltrated from Mali in 2015.
In December 2022, military prosecutors alleged that civilians and a lieutenant-colonel named Emmanuel Zoungrana were responsible for a plot to destabilize state institutions soon after Traore assumed power.
The authorities also suspended a French news magazine Jeune Afrique, accusing the magazine of publishing articles discrediting the armed forces.
