A deluge of coups and insurgent attacks: Capt. Traoré digs in to defend his government, cancels China trip

It has been a hectic week for Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the Burkinabè military leader, fighting off another coup attempt against his government.

Traore has survived 16 assassination attempts ranking him as the president who has faced the most coup attempts in the shortest time.

On the heels of the military putsch was a major Islamist attack, which occurred on August 24 in the village of Barsalogho, located in the north-central part of the country.

The Islamists opened fire on civilians and soldiers engaged in community work, leading to considerable human losses and numerous injuries, who were evacuated to Kaya, the fifth largest city in Burkina Faso, lying northeast of Ouagadougou.

Following the attacks, government authorities said, Traoré had to cancel his trip to China for the Forum on China-African Cooperation (FOCAC). According to the official government statement, he had to cancel his visit to China to focus on national security after a series of attacks by Islamists.

“In view of the national situation with the Barsalogho attack, the visit of the President of Burkina Faso to China is canceled,” declared a source close to the Presidency, emphasising the urgency of the national situation.

In response to this tragedy, a government delegation visited the site to commiserate with the victims and affected families.

The Islamist attack has sparked panic across the country, prompting a national reassessment of the security situation, further intensified by announcement of the coup attempt against Traoré’s government. Some political watchers believe both events are connected.

Judging from the tense situation within the Burkinabè government, pundits say it would be a miscalculation if Traore leaves the country, which may set the stage for a successful coup d’état. It is not certain how deep-seated the internal rivalries are within the government, but it is believed that there are still sympathisers of the government of former military leader, Colonel Paul-HenriSandaogoDamiba, toppled by Traoré, within the Burkinabè military.

Though the attempted coup was foiled, it has obviously heightened concerns about the political stability in the country.

According to reports from Ouagadougou, those alleged to be responsible for the attack at Barsalogho include Damiba, who is currently in exile in Togo, and his close associates, Colonel Ouoba, Commandant Sékou and Captain Ahmed Kinda.

After the coup attempt was announced by the government, Traoré had reportedly said that there were some high ranking military officers who had external support to topple his government. He had, however, not given much details about the plot.

There had also been earlier claims of Damiba’s involvement in assassination attempts on Traoré, but they remain speculative. Following reports of that earlier plot, calls in Burkina Faso grew for the government to issue an international arrest warrant against him.

According to an anonymous report that claimed to have details of the plot against the Traoré-led government, Captain Kinda, the former deputy commander of the Burkinabè special forces and Head of security under Damiba, who fled to Lomé with Damiba after the coup d’état on September 30th, 2022, is one of the masterminds behind the recent putsch against Traoré.

The report says Kinda had been pardoned by Traore and readmitted into the armed forces and was sent on a UN mission in Mali. He went on to a staff training course in Morocco and was granted a one-month leave to remain in Morocco after finishing his training course.

Kinda, it is reported, rather ended up in Togo, where he had correspondence with Damiba, and continued to Ivory Coast where he was received by the Minister of Defense, Téné Ibrahima Ouattara and a team from the DGSE (French secret service) on behalf of the “destabilisation operations center in Abidjan.”

The report goes on to give account of a meeting between officials of the DGSE, the Ivorians, and Kinda where they requested information on strategic centers in Ouagadougou.

It also reported that the meeting between Kinda and the French involved strategies to launch attacks on units of the Burkinabè security network, “such as the Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR) and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), with the intention to destabilise the government.”

The report concludes that Kinda is currently coordinating efforts to “put a mercenary network together” as he travels between Ivory Coast, Liberia and Ghana. Attempts to get confirmation on these serious allegations from government officials in Ouagadougou were unsuccessful. However, some sources in the country say the claims by the report are widely accepted as true but not verified as yet.

What is certain is that it is the popular belief across the country that there are active efforts by external forces to exterminate Traoré.

Another military officer fingered in the plots to topple Traoré is Lieutenant Colonel Yves Didier Bamouni, also a close friend of Damiba. After the recent coup, there were claims that a plot to assassinate Traoré if he visited the frontlines, was in place; something similar to the elimination of Tchad’s President Idriss Deby Itno in 2021, many believe.

Intelligence reports, they said, had fingered Bamouni, who was in charge of all military operations against terrorism under Damiba, and who had been based in Niger at the time.

Some reports citing recordings of active plots against Traoré say Bamouni, and not Kinda, has been at the center of all the coup attempts against Traoré from the beginning.

The reports even claim to have recordings of colonel Bamouni saying that the reason for the failure so far is due to civilian inclusion in the plots.

The recordings are alleged to also show Bamouni disclosing that he had informed Damiba of four active accomplices, who were mobilising other contacts for their final assault against Traoré, explaining that the limited numbers were to ensure that the operations were discreet.

These reports, though unsubstantiated, reveal that the Burkinabè government is facing a major dissent within its ranks, undoubtedly aided from outside. This presents a challenge for Traoré, aware that he must be cautious around his military colleagues to avoid making a strategic blunder.

Putting off the China trip may be the most rational decision to take under the current circumstances, sources say.