Captain Ibrahim Traore was named President of Burkina Faso on Wednesday after the West African country’s second coup d’état in less than nine months.
The impoverished Sahel nation found itself in renewed turmoil over the weekend when Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba – who took power in January – was ousted by newly emerged rival Traore, who led a faction of disgruntled junior officers.
It was the latest coup in the Sahel, many of which, like Burkina Faso, are fighting a growing Islamist insurgency.
Traore has been appointed “Head of State, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” according to the official statement read on national television by the ruling junta’s spokesman, Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho.
The statement said that Traore will now be the “guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity… and continuity of state”.
Damiba fled to Togo after the two-day standoff, which was defused by religious and community leaders.
Burkina is struggling with a seven-year jihadist campaign that has claimed thousands of lives, forced nearly two million people to flee and removed more than a third of the country from government control.
Swelling anger within the armed forces led to Damiba’s coup against the president-elect in January.
Damiba had proclaimed himself interim head of state and vowed to make security the country’s top priority – but after a brief lull, attacks resumed, killing hundreds.
– tensions –
Delegates from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Tuesday completed a fact-finding mission, meeting with religious and traditional leaders and Traore.
Traore said the ECOWAS visit was to “contact the new transitional authorities” as part of the support Burkina Faso received from the region.
There is speculation that Burkina’s new leader could follow other fragile regimes in French-speaking Africa and forge close ties with Moscow at the expense of France, the region’s former colonial power and traditional ally.
The dramatic takeover coincided with fierce anti-French protests and the sudden appearance of Russian flags among demonstrators.
On the streets the slogans of the demonstrators were “France out”, “No to ECOWAS interference” and “Long live cooperation between Russia and Burkina”.
The United States has warned the junta of the risks of an alliance with Russia and said it condemned “any attempt to aggravate the current situation in Burkina Faso”.
“We strongly encourage the new interim government to stick to the agreed timetable for returning to a democratically elected, civilian-led government,” a State Department spokesman said earlier this week.
Traore has previously said he will stand by a promise Damiba made to ECOWAS for the restoration of civilian rule by July 2024.
