The ruling junta in Burkina Faso, which had seized power by toppling a military regime, has disclosed the thwarting of a recent coup attempt.
In an official statement released on Wednesday, the regime’s spokesperson, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, announced the failure of an attempted power grab by certain army officers, which aimed to plunge the nation into chaos.
The military government has pledged to thoroughly investigate this conspiracy, expressing deep regret that officers, bound by their oath to defend their homeland, would engage in such actions.
While the authorities have already detained four individuals involved in the plot, two suspects remain at large.
The statement further clarified that the regime initiated an inquiry based on credible reports of a threat to state security, implicating certain officers in the alleged conspiracy.
The statement partly reads: “The dark intention of attacking the institutions of the Republic and plunging our country in chaos… investigations will help unmask the instigators of this plot.
“Officers and other alleged actors involved in this attempt at destabilisation have been arrested, and others are actively sought.
“We regret that officers whose oath is to defend their homeland have strayed into an undertaking of this nature, which aims to hinder the Burkinabe people’s march for sovereignty and total liberation from the terrorist hordes trying to enslave them.”
The junta came to power after two military coups last year, triggered in part by a worsening insurgency by armed groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that has destabilised Burkina Faso and its neighbours.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the junta leader, seized power on September 30, 2022, the country’s second coup in eight months”.
