On Friday, military officers took control of Burkina Faso, claiming to be restoring peace to the jihadist-infested country while dismissing a junta leader who had himself come to power in a coup earlier this year.
Witnesses in the capital, Ouagadougou, reported hearing gunfire around the presidential palace and junta headquarters before dawn.
Then, shortly before 8 p.m., a group of soldiers in fatigues appeared on state television and radio to announce the removal of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba for failing to put down a jihadist insurgency.
In his place, Captain Ibrahim Traore, 34, was named commander.
“We have decided to accept our responsibilities, motivated by a single ideal: the restoration of the security and integrity of our territory,” they stated.
“Our shared ideal was betrayed by our leader, in whom we had put our complete trust. Instead of liberating the occupied territories, terrorists have taken control of previously peaceful areas.”
The insurgent military also declared that air and land borders would be closed at midnight, as well as the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of the government and transitional legislative assembly.
Traore was previously the commander of the anti-jihadist Special Forces unit “Cobra” in Kaya’s northern region.
The fate of ousted leader Damiba remained unknown.
The coup plotters promised to gather “the nation’s active forces” to choose a “new Faso president, civilian or military.”
The United States said it was “deeply concerned” by the situation in Ouagadougou and encouraged its citizens to limit movements.
