Burkina Faso Coup confirmed as new junta announces takeover

Burkina Faso Coup confirmed as new junta announces the takeover. In the early hours of the day, the national TV and radio stations of Burkina Faso went off, and a coup was suspected as gunshots were heard in the capital.

At the time of publishing this story, a new junta leader Ibrahim Traore had already announced the taking over of the national broadcaster.

In Burkina Faso, a coup d’etat has occurred just 10 months after the last one that toppled democratically elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore. Fears of a takeover were sparked by reports of loud artillery bombardment in the early hours of Friday morning and a significant military presence in several areas of the capital, Ouagadougou. However, the Presidency said in a statement posted on Facebook that talks were still in progress and that an adversary was attempting to foment discord among the populace.

The public broadcaster was dark for many hours before restarting its regular schedule. But according to numerous reports, this evening, a group of armed soldiers appeared on state TV to announce a takeover.

They have declared Captain Ibrahim Traore to be the new leader, replacing the junta headed by Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

The new junta said that Damiba was no longer in charge of the coup vehicle that had brought them to power in January and that they would now solely be in charge of the MPSR.

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They justified their decision by pointing to the country’s ongoing deterioration of its security position in West Africa.

They have also vowed a swift reform of the military in order to cease terrorist assaults and restore long-term security throughout the country.