Burkina Faso junta accuses France of 'aiding' ousted leader to launch 'counter-offensive'

The Captain Ibrahim Traore-led military junta in Burkina Faso have dragged France into the September 30 coup that toppled Lt. Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

According to an October 1, 2022 statement read on national TV, RTB, a member of the new junta, Sous-Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Kabre, said the former leader of the MPSR - name of the junta, had refused to

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Kabre alleged that Sandaogo Damiba was planning a "counter-offensive" and claimed further that he’s doing this from a French base.

This is the second time that the new military junta has issued a statement, the first being Captain Traore's announcement of the takeover of executive power and deposition of Damiba, barely 10 months after seizing power from democratically elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore.

The junta dissolved the government and the transitional national assembly as well as imposed a curfew and closed all the country's borders.

The overthrow was premised on continued deterioration of the insecurity situation even as terrorists continue to launch deadly raids on security forces and the local population.

Soldiers who took power in Burkina Faso yesterday have appeared on state tv this evening, accuse Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was deposed yesterday, of "planning a counter-offensive", and claim he’s doing this from a French base. pic.twitter.com/TbdvYj5cVo

— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) October 1, 2022

ECOWAS sounds condemnation

The West African regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has condemned the September 30, 2022 coup that took place in Burkina Faso, where a new military junta overthrew another.

What started out as an exchange of heavy gunfire on Friday morning was confirmed late in the evening with a broadcast on National TV announcing the takeover.

In a statement issued from the ECOWAS Commission hours after the announcement, the bloc said it firmly condemned the incident at a time the Sandaogo Damiba-led junta was making progress on an orderly return to constitutional order by July 1, 2024.

The junta said a new leader - civilian or military will be be announced in due course, but before that some measures put in place include dissolution of the government, the Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT), and the Transition Charter as well as the closure of borders.