Junta leader in Burkina Faso steps down and leaves after coup
Junta leader in Burkina Faso steps down and leaves after coup
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OUGADOUGO: Two days after army officials announced a coup that sparked domestic unrest and international condemnation, the head of Burkina Faso's junta reportedly agreed to resign, according to religious and community leaders.

Religious and community leaders said in a statement on Sunday that Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandogo Damiba offered to resign "to avoid confrontation with serious humanitarian and material consequences."

He said this came after religious and community leaders mediate between Damiba and the new self-proclaimed leader, Ibrahim Traore.

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After Togo's second coup this year, Damiba, who himself seized power in the January coup, fled the capital Lome on Sunday, according to regional diplomatic sources. Togo is an unstable and poor country in West Africa.

In the evening, Traore announced that top military officials had given him permission to "revive" the anti-jihadist campaign.
West Africa's ECOWAS regional bloc commended the various actors who accepted the "peaceful resolution of their differences" in the Burkinabe drama in a statement released on Sunday.

The statement also said that an ECOWAS delegation will leave for Ouagadougou on Monday.
Religious and community leaders claimed that Damiba had set "seven conditions" for resigning.

Burkina Faso’s new military leader Ibrahim Traore

These included adherence to his commitment to the regional bloc of protecting him and his military allies, as well as the return of West Africa to civilian rule within two years.

Influential religious and community leaders in Burkina Faso claimed Traore, 34, had agreed to the terms and requested peace.
The overnight curfew imposed on Friday was lifted and the country's borders reopened. On Friday, junior military officers announced that they had overthrown Damiba.

Amid the protests, Kate Saturday Damiba had said she had no intention of giving up control and urged officials to "come to their senses".

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But according to a statement on Sunday by the military, which backed Traore, he will remain in charge "until he is nominated by the country's active forces for the swearing-in of Burkina Faso's president," which will take place at an undisclosed time. ,

In order to plan a "retaliation", officials accused Damiba of taking refuge at a French military base, which was denied by both he and France.
Several supporters of Traor gathered at the French embassy in Ouagadougou on Sunday.

Angry protesters set fire to an outside barrier and pelted stones at the building, some of them trying to break down the fence, and security personnel fired tear gas from inside the compound to disperse them.

According to the French Foreign Ministry, the violence was condemned by "hostile protesters perpetrated by a propaganda campaign against us".

The incident came after a fire broke out at the embassy and in front of a French institution on Saturday in Bobo-Dioulasso, a city in West Africa.

The French Foreign Ministry said a French institution in the capital also suffered significant damage.
In a January coup, Damiba took control of a country of 16 million people and accused elected leader Roch Marc Christian Cabore of failing to drive back jihadist fighters.

However, the insurgency continues, and more than 40% of Burkina Faso is still uncontrolled.
Since 2015, when the insurgency spread from neighboring Mali to Burkina Faso, thousands have been killed and nearly two million displaced by the fighting.

Officials claimed that Damiba's inability to stop the jihadist attacks prompted them to act.
The international community has expressed outrage at Friday's events, including the United States, the African Union and the European Union and ECOWAS.

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In order to combat terrorist organizations and criminal networks operating in some parts of the country, Burkina Faso needs peace, stability and unity, according to a statement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Since 2020, jihadist violence has sparked several coups in Mali and increased instability in neighboring Niger.


According to the newly elected leaders of Burkina Faso, they were "ready to turn to other partners willing to help in the fight against terrorism."

Although no nation was specifically mentioned, one of the potential partners in question is Russia, whose influence is growing in French-speaking Africa, including Mali and the Central African Republic.

Hours before what happened on Friday, hundreds of protesters gathered in the capital to call for the removal of Damiba, an end to French military operations in the Sahel and military cooperation with Russia.

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