Burkina Faso coup: Junta leader warns against war

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Days after the overthrow of the Burkina Faso government in military coup, the leader of Friday’s coup has accused the military man he deposed of plotting a counter-offensive with French aid. Violence has persisted in the capital with gunshots heard.

Burkina Faso’s new self-declared leader Ibrahim Traore has accused the president he deposed in a military coup on Friday of plotting a counterattack, blaming him for the violence which continued on Saturday.

Traore said that ousted President Paul-Henri Damiba was responsible for the gunfire reported earlier in the day in the capital Ouagadougou. He added that Damiba has taken refuge at a French base.

“We have managed to calm the situation,” Traore said.

The French Foreign Ministry denied the Burkinabe coup leader’s claims of any French involvement.

Traore’s statements came in the midst of an outpouring of condemnation for the military coup, the second to take place in the West African state this year. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged “all actors to refrain from violence and seek dialogue.”

This is Burkina Fasu’s second military coup in the span of eight months

A group of Burkina Faso army soldiers announced late Friday that they ousted junta leader Paul-Henri Damiba, who had himself come to power through a military coup last January.

The soldiers introduced Captain Traore as the West African nation’s new strongman. They blamed Damiba for failing to put an end to the Islamist insurgency the country has been witnessing.

Damiba’s whereabouts were unknown following the military takeover.

On Saturday afternoon there were still signs of violence in the capital Ouagadougou, despite a relative calm in the early hours of the day.

Gunshots in the city center were reported. Security forces drove around in a convoy, while helicopters hovered above. Military troops blocked some of the city’s main roads, including the vicinity of the presidential palace.

The AFP news agency said that shops were soon to shut their doors after initially opening for business in the morning.

The French embassy advised its citizens to limit their movements, saying that “the situation remains tense in Ouagadougou.” French nationals in the country are believed to range between 4,000 and 5,000.

Several international organizations in the African continent and beyond were wary of this second coup’s impact on the country’s already glacial return toward a constitutional government.

The UN Secretary General’s statement said that “Burkina Faso needs peace, stability and unity to fight terrorist groups and criminal networks operating in parts of the country.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell deplored in a statement “the degradation of the security and humanitarian situation in the country.”

The African Union called for an immediate and total abstention of acts of violence or threats to civilians, civil liberties or human rights. The AU statement also urged for free and fair elections to be held by July 2024, as per the initial plan set out by the deposed Damiba.

Source: AFP/ AP / Reuters

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Francis Ogwo
The young and goal driven writer and cinematographer started his journalism as a print journalist in Kaduna in 2005 writing for Kaduna Chronicles Newspapers, Liberator Newspapers where he became the South Bureau Chief. In 2008, he moved into TV production with an employment into Siverbird Television and Rhythm Fm as a Correspondent. He got certified by Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria(ITPAN) in 2009. After five years of hardwork and training, he was employed as Associate Producer, Moments With Mo and subsequently Producer, Playground on HipTV. Francis currently majors in documentaries and high profile scripts for news and movies. He is currently a Senior Contents Producer at News Central TV

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