The head of the military council was removed from his position by the putschists

The head of Burkina Faso’s military council, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who took power in a coup at the end of January, was dismissed from his post by soldiers on Friday, September 30, in a statement read on national television. .

After a day filled with gunfire in the presidential district of Ouagadougou, about 15 soldiers in uniform and some hooded, spoke just before 8 pm (10 pm) on national radio and television. Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba was dismissed from his position as head of the National Movement for Protection and Reform (MPSR, the ruling body of the Military Council), the military said in a statement read by a captain.

He added that the country’s new strongman, appointed as the head of the MPSR, is now Captain Brahim Traoré. The putschists also announced the closure of the country’s land and air borders as of midnight, as well as the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of the government and the Transitional Legislative Council. He also imposed a curfew from 9 pm to 5 am. The soldiers invoke the “continuous deterioration of the security situation” in the country. “We have decided to shoulder our responsibilities, motivated by one ideal, to restore security and safety to our lands.”they continued.

When he came to power, Paul-Henri Sandaugo Damiba had promised to make security a priority, in a country that has been undermined by bloody jihadist attacks for years. But it has doubled in recent months, especially in the north.

Since 2015, repeated attacks by armed movements affiliated with the jihadists of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, especially in the north and east of the country, have caused thousands of deaths and caused the displacement of about two million people.