Soldiers in Burkina Faso said they removed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore from power, a day after a military mutiny in the gold-producing West African nation.
The country will return to constitutional order within a “reasonable timeframe,” according to the statement signed by Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and read by another officer on Radio Television du Burkina Monday.
The power grab became necessary because Kabore was unable to tackle the security situation “that threatens the very foundation of our nation,” the officer said. “No blood was spilled and none of those detained were injured,” he said without providing information on Kabore’s whereabouts.
The constitution has been suspended and parliament dissolved, according to the statement made on behalf of the Patriotic Movement for Conservation and Restauration, which referred to itself by the French acronym MPSR.
The group, which said it represents all the units of the military, also imposed a curfew and announced it was closing all air and land borders from midnight.
Kabore, 64, had faced growing opposition to his government’s failure to tackle a mushrooming Islamist insurgency that’s destabilized Mali, Niger and other countries in the semi-arid Sahel region since it began six years ago. Burkina Faso is Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, where companies including Endeavour Mining Plc and Iamgold Corp. own mines.
This is the fourth coup in the region in less than a year.
It shows “how regional militaries are able to capture popular sentiment and turn it against civilian governments, a warning sign to other countries in the region facing similar security situations and civil-military tensions,” said Andrew Lebovich, who researches the Sahel at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
In November, protesters took to the streets calling for Kabore’s resignation after 49 military police were killed in an attack on a base in the north of the country. Demonstrations escalated after an internal army document showed the officers had been left without food.
An army mutiny erupted in Burkina Faso on Sunday, when soldiers at several bases opened fire, including at the military airport in the capital, Ouagadougou. The shootings came a day after security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators demanding Kabore’s ousting. Protesters also ransacked the headquarters of the ruling People’s Movement for Progress on Sunday.
Damiba, who signed Monday’s statement on behalf of the newly formed MPSR, is a senior infantry officer in the Burkinabè army.
A graduate of the Military School in Paris, he holds a master’s degree in criminal sciences from the Conservatoire national des arts et metiers and a defense expert certification in management, command and strategy, according to his biography on Paris-based publishing house Les Trois Colonnes’ website. He is the author of the book “West African Army and Terrorism: Uncertain Response?”