By John Ikani
The army officers who seized power in Burkina Faso say toppled military leader Lt. Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is planning a counteroffensive from a “French base”.
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.
However, the officers led by new self-declared leader Captain Ibrahim Traore accused Damiba of plotting a counterattack with French aid, blaming the former coloniser for the violence which continued on Saturday.
“[Damiba] is believed to have taken refuge in the French base at Kamboinsin in order to plan a counteroffensive to stir up trouble in our defence and security forces,” the coup-makers said in a statement read on national television.
An hour before the televised comments, the French embassy issued a statement “firmly denying any involvement of the French army in the events”. It also denied “rumours that Burkinabe authorities have been hosted or are under the protection of French military.”
Angry protesters attacked the French embassy in Ouagadougou late Saturday. Video on social media showed residents with lit torches outside the perimeter and other images showed part of the compound ablaze.
In Burkina Faso’s second-largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, angry crowds also vandalised the French Institute.
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.”
