Alleged coup attempt in Burkina Faso: high-ranking officers arrested. Demonstrations in support of the transition on 29/09/2023

Alleged coup attempt in Burkina Faso: high-ranking officers arrested On September 26, 2023, Burkina Faso's military junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, announced that it had foiled an attempted coup d'état. Four high-ranking officers were arrested, while two others are reported to be on the run. The officers implicated in the plot are Commander Abdoul Aziz Aouoba, head of the Special Operations Command (COS), Lieutenant-Colonel Boubacar Keïta, director of the Higher Institute for Civil Protection Studies (ISEPC), Lieutenant-Colonel Cheick Hamza Ouattara, commander of the National Gendarmerie's Special Legion, and Captain Christophe Maïga, deputy commander of the National Gendarmerie's Special Intervention Unit (USIGN). On September 27, 2023, the Ouagadougou military court confirmed the arrests and reported that two other officers involved were on the run. This coup attempt comes around a year after Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in a coup in September 2022, exacerbating political instability in Burkina Faso. The transitional government declared that the conspirators' aim was to attack the institutions of the Republic and plunge the country into chaos. This announcement was followed by demonstrations by supporters of Captain Traoré, who rallied to support him in the face of rumors of a coup d'état on the night of September 26. This situation raises concerns about the cohesion and stability of the Mouvement Patriotique pour le Salut et la Restauration (MPSR), the ruling junta in Burkina Faso. Captain Ibrahim Traoré came to power following a putsch orchestrated against the democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Damiba Sandaogo, in September 2022.