Burkina Faso army deposes president, closes borders in West Africa’s latest coup
- Soldiers in Burkina Faso on Monday announced on state television that they have seized power
- Announcement followed a mutiny over the civilian president’s failure to contain an Islamist insurgency
Burkina Faso’s army said it had ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and the national assembly, and closed the country’s borders.
The announcement on Monday cited the deterioration of the security situation and what the army described as Kabore’s inability to unite the West African nation and effectively respond to challenges, which include an Islamist insurgency.
The communique was signed by the country’s apparent new military leader, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. It was read aloud by another army officer on state television.
Damiba sat beside the spokesman without addressing the camera during the announcement which said the takeover had been carried out without violence and that those detained were at a secure location.
The statement was made in the name of a previously unheard-of entity, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, or MPSR, its French-language acronym.
“MPSR, which includes all sections of the army, has decided to end President Kabore’s post today,” it said.
