The coup d'etat that unfolded Friday in Burkina Faso in many ways mirrored the one just eight months ago.
DAKAR, Senegal — First there were reports of gunfire near the presidential palace. Then state television service was briefly cut. By nightfall, a military officer in camouflage was reading an announcement: For the sake of Burkina Faso’s national security, he said, officers had seized power.The coup d’etat that unfolded Friday in Burkina Faso in many ways mirrored the one just eight months ago, when Lt. Col.
“It feels like deja vu,” said Constantin Gouvy, a Burkina Faso researcher in Ouagadougou, the country’s capital, with the Clingendael Institute who focuses on conflict in the Sahel. “It was pretty much the same story as in January — except the only difference is that this was a coup-within-a-coup.”The soldiers who orchestrated the takeover on Friday — led by Capt.
Last year, Burkina Faso became the epicenter of the growing security crisis in the Sahel, with its death toll from insurgent attacks surpassing that in Mali. Violence only intensified after Damiba took power, including an attack that left 79 civilians dead over the summer, a bomb that killed 35 last month and an attack on a convoy Monday by Islamist militants that the government said killed 11 soldiers and left 50 civilians missing.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Army officers appear on Burkina Faso TV, declare countercoupOUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — More than a dozen members of Burkina Faso's army seized control of state television late Friday, declaring that the country's coup leader-turned-president, Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had been overthrown after only nine months in power.
Read more »
Army Officers Appear on Burkina Faso TV, Declare New CoupMore than a dozen soldiers seized control of Burkina Faso’s state television late Friday, declaring that the country’s coup leader-turned-president, Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had been overthrown after only nine months in power.
Read more »
Coup in Burkina Faso ousts previous coup leaderLt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba had just returned from addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York as Burkina Faso’s head of state. Tensions, though, had been mounting for months. In…
Read more »
Coup in Burkina Faso ousts previous coup leaderLt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba had just returned from addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York as Burkina Faso’s head of state. Tensions, though, had been mounting for months. In…
Read more »