Burkina Faso Coup Leader Says He Prevented New Coup

Burkina Faso’s military junta said it averted a “major plot” to overthrow junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, alleging the perpetrators were operating from neighboring Ivory Coast, BBC reported. 

According to Security Minister Mahamadou Sana, current and former soldiers worked with “terrorist leaders” to plot a coup that involved attacking the presidential palace on April 16, according to France 24.  

Burkina Faso has been run by a military junta since 2022, when Traoré led a coup that brought him to power.  

The failed coup is the latest attempt to remove Traoré. Sana said the plotters tried to win army officers’ support by involving Burkinabe religious and tribal leaders. 

A dozen military personnel, including two officers, were arrested last week for attempting to  “destabilize” the government, France 24 wrote. 

While Ivory Coast has yet to comment on the accusations, Traoré has repeatedly accused the country of sheltering his enemies in exile and claimed last year that it provided a “center of operations” for opponents to destabilize Burkina Faso. 

Traoré’s government, meanwhile, is also accused of repression: Civil rights groups say the junta silences dissent and is responsible for an increase in extrajudicial arrests, particularly of individuals deemed hostile to the junta. 

While Traoré had promised to bring back security in the country, Burkina Faso continues to face ongoing jihadist violence from groups linked to Islamic State or al Qaeda. 

Over the past few years, Burkina Faso and its neighbors in the Sahel region, Niger and Mali, have broken away from the regional West African bloc, ECOWAS, and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), cutting ties with former colonial power France and cozying up to Russia instead.