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Americans in Burkina Faso were told to take shelter in place after a military coup on Saturday, the second time in eight months since the ouster of former President Roch Kabore (pictured). File photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License photo
October 1 (UPI) – Americans at the U.S. embassy in Burkina Faso were told Saturday to take refuge in place amid shootings sparked by the African country’s second military coup in eight months.
Embassy officials said that at Cpt. Ibrahim Traore Burkina Faso army leadership coup Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henry Damiba, opposed to the current military leader, dissolved the country’s government on Friday.
“After a quiet night, gunfire was heard again in the Waga 2000 community, downtown and other parts of the city,” the State Department said. said in an online memo to Americans“Airplanes have also been reported overhead across the city. Embassy personnel continue to take shelter in place.”
In a televised address to the country on Friday, Traore announced that the border will be closed indefinitely, all political and civil society activities will be suspended, and a curfew will be imposed.
“Faced with the deteriorating situation, we have repeatedly tried to persuade Dameba to refocus the transition on security,” he said in a statement read on television by another official.
In a separate TV address, Traore’s group claims Dameba is planning to fight back.
Dameba was unidentified on Saturday.former leader took office on January 24, Blame then-President Roh Kabore for failing to curb violence by Islamist militants. At the time, Damiba said the military would restore “constitutional order” within a reasonable time.
Since then, violence has spread in the country. Dameba succeeded him as defence minister in September, taking on the role himself after a particularly violent period.
A Louisiana nun who lived in the country was Kidnapped by armed gunmen Suellen Theresa Tennyson, 83, was finally released at the end of August and returned to the United States on April 5.
International leaders moved quickly to condemn the recent coup.
“Second military coup in Burkina Faso in 2022 heightens concerns about the country’s human rights situation,” Human Rights Watch director Corinna Dufka said in a statement Saturday. “Armed Islamist groups control large swathes of the country, with millions of Burkina Faso people internally displaced without access to food and basic government services.”
She called on the new junta to “prioritize the humane treatment of detainees, respect the freedom of the media and defenders, and ensure that military operations comply with the laws of war.”
The authorities should also “quickly transition to civilian democratic rule so that Burkina Faso can vote for a leader of their choice in free and fair elections,” Dufka added.
African Union Commission Chairman HE Moussa Faki Mahamat also Express “Deeply concerned about the re-emergence of unconstitutional change of government in Burkina Faso and elsewhere on the African continent.
He called on the Burkina Faso military to “immediately and completely refrain from any acts of violence or threats to civilians, civil liberties, human rights, and to ensure strict compliance with the electoral deadlines for restoring constitutional order” by July 1, 2024, at the latest.
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