Burkina Faso army Captain Ibrahim Traore has ousted military leader Paul-Henri Damiba and dissolved the government.
That is the second coup in eight months in the West African nation.
in a statement read on national television on Friday evening, the new coup leader Traore said a group of officers who helped Damiba seize power in January, had decided to remove him due to his inability to deal with a worsening Islamist insurgency.
Damiba had ousted former President Roch Kabore in January, in part for the same reason he is being toppled.
“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, flanked by a group of soldiers in military fatigues and heavy armour.
There were reports of heavy gunfire from the main military camp and some residential areas in Burkina Faso’s capital earlier on Friday.
A large blast was also heard near the presidential palace as soldiers were deployed onto the street leading to the presidential palace.
Col Paul-Henri Damiba who was reported to be in the capital had urged people to remain calm in a statement posted on Facebook.
“Talks are under way to restore calm and serenity,” amid a “confused” situation caused by certain elements of the army, the statement said.
“The enemy attacking our country only wants division between Burkinabès to accomplish its destabilisation action”, it continued.
Meanwhile Burkina Faso government spokesman Lionel Bilgo had told the AFP news agency that the country is facing an “internal crisis in the army”.
“Talks are continuing to try to reach a settlement without trouble,” Mr Bilgo continued.
The constitution has been suspended and the transitional charter dissolved, borders have ben closed indefinitely and all political and civil society activities are suspended, Traore said while declaring a curfew from 2100 GMT to 0500 GMT.
The statement from the new coup leaders 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.
“Damiba’s actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba,” it said.
Damiba took power in a January coup, toppling the West African country’s elected leader and promising to rein in the armed groups but violence still rages.
At least 11 soldiers have been killed and 50 civilians reported missing after armed fighters attacked a military convoy this week.
The 150-vehicle military-escorted convoy was taking supplies to a northern town.
In a statement, the government said the assault took place in the commune of Gaskinde in Soum province, where armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) group have been escalating attacks and seizing territory since 2015.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
