Burkina Faso coup leader says situation 'under control'

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2 年前

STORY: Ouagadougou is a city on edge, after Burkina Faso's coup on Friday (September 30).

But on Sunday (October 2), the West African country's new, self-declared leader Captain Ibrahim Traore said the situation was under control.

In a statement read on television by an army officer, with Traore standing alongside, "order" was said to be "being restored".

On Saturday (October 1), with gunfire has been heard in the Burkinabe capital for a second day, Traore accused President Paul-Henri Damiba of staging a counter-offensive, having been ousted the day before.

Traore also claimed Damiba had taken refuge at a French army base.

The French foreign ministry issued a statement saying the base had never hosted Damiba - but that didn't stop Traore's supporters from setting fire to the French embassy's exterior walls.

In the statement on Sunday, Traore urged citizens to refrain from acts of violence or vandalism, including against the French embassy or military base.

The standoff in the capital signals a deep division within the army and a worrying new chapter for Burkina Faso.

The country has been afflicted by a rampant militant insurgency that has undermined faith in the authorities and displaced almost two million people.

On Saturday Damiba made his first statement on the crisis - posting on the official Facebook page of the presidency that Captain Traore and company should "come to their senses to avoid a fratricidal war which Burkina Faso does not need".