Protesters attack French embassy in Burkina Faso after coup

Angry protesters stormed the French embassy in Burkina Faso’s capital after supporters of the West African country’s new coup leader accused France of harboring the ousted interim president – an accusation that French authorities have vehemently denied.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henry Sandogo Damiba was overthrown late Friday just nine months after a coup in Burkina Faso that failed to effectively address increasing violence by Islamic extremists .

Earlier Saturday, comments by a new junta spokesman sparked outrage in the capital Ouagadougou.

The whereabouts of Lieutenant Colonel Damiba are unknown, but the French foreign ministry issued a strongly worded statement: “We officially deny involvement in the events in Burkina Faso. The French army camp has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandogo. Dameba, and we don’t have our embassy either.”

Captain Ibrahim Traore, who was named head of the coup after state television announced Friday night’s coup, said in the first interview that he and his men were not trying to harm Lieutenant Colonel Damiba.

“If we wanted to, we’d take him within five minutes of the fight, maybe he’d be dead, President. But we don’t want that kind of catastrophe,” Capt. Traore told VOA.

“We don’t want to hurt him because we don’t have any personal issues with him. We are fighting for Burkina Faso.”

An internal EU security analysis seen by The Associated Press said there had been “unusual military operations” in the city.

The ouster of Lieutenant Colonel Damiba, who himself overthrew the country’s elected president in January, has been widely condemned by the international community amid widespread uncertainty. The African Union and the West African regional group known as ECOWAS have harshly criticized the development.

“ECOWAS believes that this new power grab is inappropriate at a time when progress is being made,” the group said, citing Lieutenant Colonel Damiba’s recent agreement to restore constitutional order by July 2024.

After taking power in January, Lieutenant Voldamiba pledged to end the Islamist extremist violence that has driven 2 million people from their homes in Burkina Faso.

The new junta leadership said it would bring “a renewed focus on security and the restoration of our territorial integrity by all fighting forces”.

But it remains to be seen whether the junta can reverse the crisis. There have been growing fears that the recent political unrest will further distract the military and allow jihadists to tighten their grip on the once peaceful country.

For some in Burkina Faso’s military, Lieutenant Colonel Damiba is considered too close to former colonizer France, which maintains a military presence in Africa’s Sahel region to help countries fight Islamic extremists.

In neighboring Mali, the coup leader invited Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to assist with security, a move that has drawn global condemnation and accusations of human rights abuses.

Mali also saw a second coup d’état nine months after the president was overthrown in August 2020, when the leader of the military junta sidelined his civilian transition opponents and left himself alone.

Chrysogone Zougmore, president of Burkina Faso’s Human Rights Movement, called the recent overthrow “very regrettable”, saying political instability would not help combat Islamist extremist violence, adding: “How can we hope to unite the people and the army if the latter With such severe divisive features?”