The military in Burkina Faso announced, in a televised statement, Friday evening, the dismissal of the head of the ruling military junta, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who took power following a coup at the end of January.
At the end of a day that witnessed shootings in the neighborhood of the presidential residence in the capital, Ouagadougou, about 15 soldiers, some wearing face masks, spoke at about 6 pm (Greenwich and local) on national television.
“Lieutenant Colonel Damiba has been removed from his position as head of the National Movement for Salvation and Reform,” the military’s governing body said in a statement read by one of them.
They explained that Captain Ibrahim Traore became the new head of the military council.
They announced the closure of land and air borders as of midnight, as well as the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of the government and the Transitional Legislative Council.
A curfew was imposed from nine in the evening until five in the morning.
The military justified their move by the “continuous deterioration of the security situation” in the country.
“We have decided to assume our responsibilities, motivated by one supreme goal, to restore the security and integrity of our lands,” their statement said.
Damiba had pledged upon assuming power to make security his priority in the country, which has been undermined by bloody jihadist attacks for years, but jihadist activity has doubled in recent months, especially in the north.
Since 2015, repeated attacks by armed movements affiliated with the jihadists of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have killed thousands and displaced nearly two million people.