Burkina Faso is dealing with rebel fighters associated with al-Qaeda and ISIL.
Two suspected attacks in Burkina Faso have killed at least 18 people, including 16 army supporters, according to security sources on Friday.
The attacks on Thursday in the country’s north and northwest were the latest to target a civilian auxiliary force that aids the military in its seven-year fight against rebels.
Burkina Faso, located in West Africa, is one of the world’s poorest and most volatile countries.
It has been grappling with violence spearheaded by rebel fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) groups since 2015, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly two million people.
The country is now the epicentre of a conflict that spilled over from Mali.
Thursday’s “first attack targeted an advance party of Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland [VDP] in Rakoegtenga”, a town in the northern province of Bam, a VDP official said.
Six auxiliaries and a woman died in the attack, the official said.
About 10 people were wounded, including some seriously, who were “evacuated to Ouagadougou for appropriate care”, he said.
The VDP official said the second attack killed about 10 vigilantes and a person in Nayala province in the northwest in the afternoon when a convoy they and soldiers were escorting was ambushed on the Siena-Saran road.
Security sources confirmed two “jihadist attacks” but gave no precise death toll, referring only to “a number of losses”.
The VDP, set up in December 2019, comprises civilian volunteers who are given two weeks of military training and then deployed alongside the army, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
A surge in violence
Commentators worry that the poorly trained volunteers are easy targets for rebel fighters – and may dangerously inflame ethnic friction without proper controls.
Last week, about 60 women, girls and babies were abducted in the northern Djibo region while gathering wild fruit and other food, investigators said.
Violence targeting security forces and civilians has increased in recent months, especially in northern and eastern regions bordering Mali and Niger.
The escalating toll unleashed two military coups last year, launched by officers angered at failures to stem the bloodshed.
The latest strongman is Captain Ibrahim Traore, who on September 30 overthrew Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
Radio France Internationale (RFI) has condemned the suspension of its broadcasts by Burkina Faso’s military government, calling accusations that it had aided “a desperate manoeuvre of terrorist groups” completely unfounded.
RFI’s management stated in a press release that the cut-off occurred without prior notice and without following the procedures outlined in the station’s broadcasting agreement with Burkina Faso’s Superior Council of Communication.
“The France Médias Monde Group will explore all avenues to restore RFI’s broadcasting, and recalls its unwavering commitment to the freedom to inform and to the professional work of its journalists,” the press release said.
Burkina Faso on Saturday ordered the immediate suspension of Radio France Internationale (RFI) broadcasts, accusing it of putting out a “message of intimidation” attributed to a “terrorist chief”.
It is the second West African country under military rule, after Mali, to take RFI off the airwaves this year.
RFI had contributed to “a desperate manoeuvre of terrorist groups” to dissuade thousands of Burkinabe citizens mobilised for the defence of the country, said Burkinabe government spokesman Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo.
At the beginning of the week, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Support Group for Islam and Muslims threatened in a video to attack villages defended by the pro-government VDP militia in Burkina Faso.
The VDP are civilian volunteers given two weeks’ military training to work alongside the army carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
The government had already, on November 3, protested the contents of the French broadcaster’s reports, said the government statement.
“Considering everything that has happened before, the government has decided on the immediate suspension, until further notice, of the broadcasting of Radio France Internationale’s programmes.”
The government also accused RFI of having relayed “misleading information” suggesting the leader of the Burkinabe junta, Captain Ibrahim Traore, had said there had been an attempted coup against him.
In Burkina Faso, RFI is broadcast on five FM relays, shortwave, free-to-air on several satellites and via some 50 partner radio stations.
It is followed each week by more than 40 percent of the population.
Burkina Faso’s interim leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, has announced that he was the target of a coup attempt last week.
In a meeting with civil society organisations on Thursday, Captain Traoré confirmed the coup attempt and said that he knew who was behind it, but was not going to make any arrests as he “prefers dialogue and the situation is under control”.
Capt Traoré took power in Burkina Faso on 30 September through a coup by ousting his predecessor, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who himself had seized power through a coup.
Burkina Faso has launched a drive to recruit 50,000 civilian defense volunteers. Among them, volunteers for the defense of the homeland. The men and women are on a mission to protect, the people and property of their localities of origin alongside the defense and security forces.
Jihadi violence has killed thousands of people since 2015. The last elected president was deposed after he faced a wave of anger over the insurgency. According to professor Zakaria Soré, the army is adjusting tactics to swell its ranks.
Burkina Faso has been grappling with a jihadist insurgency which has continually extended its deadly grip, called for civilian backup in October.
Captain Ibrahim Traore has been appointed as president of Burkina Faso after Paul-Henri Damiba was removed in the West African country’s second coup in less than nine months.
Enlistment officially ended on November 18 and more than 30,000 people registered aged 18 to 77 according to government data.
The volunteers will receive 14 days of civic and military training before being armed and provided with means of communication.
The 71 deputies appointed to Burkina Faso’s new Transitional Legislative Assembly (TLA) took office on Friday, more than a month after the coup d’etat that brought Captain Ibrahim Traore to power.
This assembly is responsible for voting on the texts of reforms planned during the transition.
The 71 deputies were appointed by the head of state (20), the defence and security forces (16), civil society organisations (12), representatives of the country’s regions (13, one per region) and political parties (10).
They replace their predecessors who had been invested according to a similar mode of appointment in March, when the junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was overthrown at the end of September, set up the assembly.
A dozen deputies from the previous assembly were reappointed, such as Abdoulaye Soma, a former candidate in the November 2020 presidential election, or Ousmane Bougouma, a 41-year-old law professor, who was elected president of the assembly on Friday.
“Our country, Burkina Faso, is going through difficult times in its history. This is not the time for celebrations or rejoicing but rather for commitment and self-sacrifice.
“I urge you to be sober, to make a collective effort and to show patriotic commitment,” he said, addressing the deputies, calling for “an uncompromising control of government action”.
The establishment of this legislative body follows the adoption in mid-October of a Transitional Charter, drawn up after consultation between the ruling junta and the “active forces” of the nation (parties, unions, civil society, etc.).
This charter stipulates that the members of the LTA have a “free mandate” and will not be paid, apart from session allowances.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been caught up in a spiral of violence attributed to jihadist movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (EI) group, which has left thousands dead and some two million displaced.
The deteriorating security situation has been used to justify two coups this year: the first at the end of January, when a military junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba overthrew elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, and another at the end of September, which brought Captain Traoré to power.
Captain Traoré, who was sworn in as president of the transition on 21 October by the Constitutional Council, has set himself the goal of “reconquering the territory occupied by hordes of terrorists”.
The people of Ouagadougou are reacting to the announcement that Captain Ibrahim Traoré, leader of the 30 September coup d’etat, has taken power.
“It is a good thing that he assumes (power)” says one man. Traoré was designated head of state and supreme commander of the national armed forces on national television, in a statement entitled “Acte fundamental”.
“My problem is that as a young person, he needs advice”. says another citizen by the name Moumouni Ouédraogo. ”As he is a young person he needs advice. Without advice, it can’t work. We hope that all he has to do is listen to the advice and he’ll be fine.” Ouédraogo stressed.
Just a week ago, 34-year-old Ibrahim Traore was an unknown, even in his native Burkina Faso.
But in the space of a weekend, he catapulted himself from army captain to the world’s youngest leader — an ascent that has stoked hopes but also fears for a poor and chronically troubled country.
Traore, at the head of a core of disgruntled junior officers, ousted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had seized power just in January.
The motive for the latest coup — as in January — was anger at failures to stem a seven-year jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and driven nearly two million people from their homes.
On Wednesday, Traore was declared president and “guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity… and continuity of the State.”
At that lofty moment, Traore became the world’s youngest leader, wresting the title from Chilean President Gabriel Boric, a whole two years older.
Traore’s previously unknown face is now plastered on portraits around the capital Ouagadougou.
His photo is even on sale in the main market, alongside portraits of Burkina’s revered assassinated radical leader, Thomas Sankara, and of Jesus.
– Military career –
Traore was born in Bondokuy, in western Burkina Faso, and studied geology in Ouagadougou before joining the army in 2010.
He graduated as an officer from the Georges Namonao Military School — a second-tier institution compared to the prestigious Kadiogo Military Academy (PMK) of which Damiba and others in the elite are alumni.
Traore emerged second in his class, a contemporary told AFP, describing him as “disciplined and brave.”
After graduation, he gained years of experience in the fight against jihadists.
He served in the badly-hit north and centre of the country before heading to a posting in neighbouring Mali in 2018 in the UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission.
He was appointed captain in 2020.
A former superior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, recounted an incident that occurred in 2020 when the town of Barsalogho in central Burkina was on the verge of falling to the jihadists.
The highway into Barsalogho was believed to have been mined, so Traore led his men on a “commando trek” across the countryside, arriving in time to free the town, he said.
When Damiba took power in January, ousting elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Traore became a member of the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR), as the junta chose to call itself.
– Discontent –
In March, Damiba promoted Traore to head of artillery in the Kaya regiment in the centre of the country.
But it was a move that ironically would sow the seeds of Damiba’s own downfall.
The regiment became a cradle of discontent, and Traore, tasked by his colleagues with channelling their frustrations, made several trips to Ouagadougou to plead their case with Damiba.
Disillusionment at the response turned into anger, which appears to have crystallised into a resolve to seize power after an attack on a convoy in northern Burkina last month that left 27 soldiers and 10 civilians dead.
“Captain Traore symbolises the exasperation of junior officers and the rank and file,” said security consultant Mahamoudou Savadogo.
The new president faces a daunting task in regaining the upper hand over jihadist groups, some affiliated with Al-Qaeda and others with the Islamic State. They have steadily gained ground since they launched their attacks from Mali in 2015.
Yet Traore has promised to do “within three months” what “should have been done in the past eight months,” making a direct criticism of his predecessor.
Savadogo warned that one soldier overthrowing another illustrates “the deteriorating state of the army, which hardly exists anymore and which has just torn itself apart with this umpteenth coup d’etat”.
Traore’s takeover also comes amid deliberations with ECOWAS the regional bloc which is seeking to ensure and guide the sahelian state back to civilian rule within a set deadline. “I don’t even want Captain Traoré to respect the ECOWAS calendar. We don’t want the ECOWAS calendar. We don’t want ECOWAS. ECOWAS has never solved a problem in Africa.” one man in Ouagadougou says.
Alongside the ECOWAS issue is the struggle for influence between France and Russia in French-speaking Africa, where former French colonies are increasingly turning to Moscow.
Demonstrators who rallied for Traore in Ouagadougou during last weekend’s standoff with Damiba waved Russian flags and chanted anti-France slogans.
Traore seems — for now — to bring hope to many in a country sinking steadily in the quagmire.
On Monday, L’Observateur Paalga newspaper, went with a decidedly biblical headline: “Ibrahim, the intimate friend of God, will he be able to save us?”
New military ruler of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, appeared on TV after driving through parts of the capital Ouagadougou with heavily armed guards on Sunday, October 2.
Traore, who is now leader of Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, or MPSR, the group that led the first coup in January was silent about the whereabouts of deposed leader, Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
In the address read by a spokesman whiles he stood to the left, Traore assured the population that the situation in the country was under control, he also asked people to go about their daily activities and stay off looting and vandalism.
He mentioned specifically that attacks on French government installations needed to be stopped.
His comments come on the back of violent attacks against the French Embassy in Ouagadougou which photos and videos had gone viral on October 1.
Reports indicate the French businesses have also not been spared as well as a French Institute in Bobo-Dioulasso and also the French military base – the base, it was alleged, by an army spokesperson was accommodating the ousted leader.
The French Foreign Affairs Ministry, however, issued a firm condemnation of the violent acts and dismissed the allegation of sheltering the ousted leader at their base neither at any facility.
ECOWAS and the African Union, AU, have sternly rejected the unconstitutional power grab and called for a return to the roadmap towards a civilian transition by 2024.
The underlying reasons for the takeover of September 30 was the increasing deterioration of security across the country.
The same reason was advanced by Damiba in January when he deposed democratically-elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore before the birth of the MPSR.
Damiba according to the Associated Press gave seven conditions before accepting to resign but has flown to Togo as of October 2.
The French government has denied claims made by Burkina Faso’s new military junta that it is siding with deposed commander Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The statement was made by the juntaheaded by Captain Ibrahim Traore, which came to power on September 30, 2022, promising to restore stability throughout the country of West Africa.
According to an October 1, 2022 statement read on national TV, RTB, a member of the new junta, Sous-Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Kabre, said the former leader of the MPSR – the name of the junta, had refused to leave power quietly.
Kabre alleged that Sandaogo Damiba was planning a “counter-offensive” and claimed further that he was doing this from a French base.
On Saturday, there were violent attacks against the French Embassy in Burkina Faso as protesters marched on the facility and threatened to burn it by lighting fires around the building
In an October 1, 2022 statement from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, France denied the allegation and said it was not hosting Damiba in any of its facilities.
“France formally denies any involvement in the events underway since yesterday in Burkina Faso.
“The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy,” the statement read.
Read the complete statement below:
STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE MINISTRY FOR EUROPE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Burkina Faso
October 1, 2022
France formally deniesany involvement in the events underway since yesterday in Burkina Faso.
The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy.
PRESS SERVICE
Spokesperson Sub-Directorate
New junta leader Captain Traore’s announced the takeover of executive power and deposition of Damiba, barely 10 months after the later seized power from democratically elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore.
The junta dissolved the government and the transitional national assembly as well as imposed a curfew and closed all the country’s borders.
The overthrow was premised on the continued deterioration of the insecurity situation even as terrorists continue to launch deadly raids on security forces and the local population.
ECOWAS and AU sound condemnation
The West African regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has condemned the September 30, 2022 coup that took place in Burkina Faso, where a new military junta overthrew another.
What started out as an exchange of heavy gunfire on Friday morning was confirmed late in the evening with a broadcast on National TV announcing the takeover.
In a statement issued from the ECOWAS Commission hours after the announcement, the bloc said it firmly condemned the incident at a time the Sandaogo Damiba-led junta was making progress on an orderly return to constitutional order by July 1, 2024.
The junta said a new leader – civilian or military will be announced in due course, but before that, some measures put in place include the dissolution of the government, the Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT), and the Transition Charter as well as the closure of borders.
The AU statement signed by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission was titled: ‘The Chairperson of the African Union Commission unequivocally condemns the second takeover of power by force in Burkina Faso,’ and it read:
“In strong support of ECOWAS, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, and in conformity with the Lomé Declaration of the Year 2000, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Accra Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, expresses his deep concern about the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of Government in Burkina Faso and elsewhere on the African Continent.
“The Chairperson calls upon the military to immediately and totally refrain from any acts of violence or threats to the civilian population, civil liberties, human rights, and ensure strict compliance with electoral deadlines for the restoration of Constitutional order by 1 July 2024, at the latest.
“The Chairperson reaffirms the continued support of the African Union to the people of Burkina Faso to ensure peace, stability, and development of the country.”
On Friday night in Burkina Faso, armed soldiers wearing fatigues and masks came on television to confirm the overthrow of President Paul-Henri Damiba, the second coup in the unstable West African nation this year.
The announcement capped a day that began with gunfire near a military camp in the capital Ouagadougou, an explosion near the presidential palace, and interruptions to state television programming.
It is a pattern that has become increasingly familiar in West and Central Africa in the past two years as Islamist insurgents wreak havoc across the arid expanses of the Sahel region, killing thousands and eroding faith in weak governments that have not found a way to beat them back.
Mali, Chad, and Guinea have all seen coups since 2020, raising fears of a to backslide towards military rule in a region that had made democratic progress over the past decade.
Burkina Faso’s new leader is army Captain Ibrahim Traore. In a scene that replicated Damiba’s own power grab in a Jan. 24 coup, Traore appeared on television surrounded by soldiers and announced the government was dissolved, the constitution suspended and the borders closed. He declared a nightly curfew.
Damiba’s whereabouts were unknown on Friday evening.
Traore said a group of officers who helped Damiba seize power in January had decided to remove their leader due to his inability to deal with the Islamists. Damiba ousted former President Roch Kabore for the same reason.
“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 and read out by another officer on television.
The statement said Damiba had rejected proposals by the officers to reorganise the army and instead continued with the military structure that had led to the fall of the previous regime.
