Was a coup attempt foiled in Burkina Faso? This is what the government said this Wednesday evening, September 27, in a press release read on national television. On Thursday, the military prosecutor’s office said it had launched “a detailed investigation based on credible reports of a conspiracy against state security.” As a result, four officers have been arrested and two are being actively sought.
Published on: September 28, 2023 – 3:56 p.m
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We know a little more about the identity of these arrested officers. There are two figures of the National Gendarmerie. Lieutenant Colonel Cheick Hamza Ouattara, who commands the Special Gendarmerie Legion, and Captain Christophe Maïga, second in command of the Special Operations Unit of the same Gendarmerie, the equivalent of the GIGN in France. A unit that is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism.
The arrested officials also include Abdoul Aziz Aouoba, the commander of the Burkinabe special forces, and Boubacar Keita, director general of the Higher Institute for Civil Protection Studies. “They are being heard at the moment,” says a security source. According to our information, the two fugitive officials are former employees of the National Intelligence Service.
One of them would be Commander Sekou Ouedraogo, the agency’s former deputy director general. The man was relieved of his duties by captain Ibrahim Traoré on September 13th. In view of the repeated “attempts to destabilize and other allegations,” the military prosecutor’s office invites anyone who could provide information to come forward to testify.
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