Burkina Faso’s military leader, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, has been removed in a coup led by army captain Ibrahim Traore Lt Col Damiba’s junta overthrew an elected government in January, citing a failure to halt Islamist attacks as the reason He was, however, ousted on Friday by Traore with support from several soldiers over his inability to deal with the country’s Islamist insurgency
The military leader of Burkina Faso, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, has been ousted by army captain Ibrahim Traore, halting all political activities in the country.
Soldiers remove Burkina Faso’s military leader Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba on Friday.
Following the coup. Lt Col Damiba’s junta came to power after overthrowing an elected government in January, citing a failure to halt Islamist attacks, per the BBC.
He was, however, removed on Friday by Ibrahim Traore with support from several soldiers.
Reason for the recent coup
Traore cited Lt Col Damiba’s failure to deal with an Islamist insurgency as the reason.
More than 20 armed soldiers, most with their faces covered, appeared on state television to announce Damiba’s removal from office and a curfew from 21:00 to 05:00. “Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question,” said the statement signed by Traore.
“Damiba’s actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba,” it said.
Lt Col Damiba’s whereabouts are not known following the coup. Some countries, including the United States, have expressed concern about the events in Burkina Faso.
The US has urged its citizens to limit movements in the country.
“We call for a return to calm and restraint by all actors,” a State Department spokesperson said.