Burkina Faso’s junta says it has foiled a coup attempt

September 28, 2023

Burkina Faso’s military government said Wednesday its intelligence and security services had thwarted a coup attempt and were actively pursuing others believed involved in what it called a bid to “throw our country into chaos.”

A junta statement said the coup attempt happened Tuesday without providing further details.

“Officers and other alleged actors involved in this attempt at destabilization have been arrested and others are actively sought,” junta spokesman Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in the statement.

Burkina Faso is one of a growing list of West African countries where the military has taken power, accusing the elected governments of failing to keep their promises.

The current junta seized power in September 2022 by ousting the military regime of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba about eight months after it staged a coup to remove democratically elected President Roch Marc Kaboré.