Burkina Faso: Coup Rumours – Several Army Officers Arrested

Dakar — Several officers of the Burkinabe armed forces were arrested, and two of them reportedly relieved of their duties as corps commanders. Several junta supporters have suggested a coup attempt, pointing the finger at exiled military personnel. No further action was taken.

According to RFI, Magistrate Commander Frédéric Ouédraogo, former commander of the Military Justice Battalion, is among the officers arrested.

According to security sources, the latter was investigating the October 23 shooting death of Commander Ismaël Touhogobou, suspected of being involved in an attempted coup. The military prosecutor had then suggested that “the arrest had gone wrong”, the same source said.

Captain Elysée Tassembedo, commander of the Northern Sector Security Forces Group based in Ouahigouya, was captured in Ouagadougou while he was in a meeting.

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the transitional president, replaced the arrested officers quickly, without specifying their number. The atnosphere within the army is described as tense, with accusatory glances directed at former officers already expelled from the army, security sources said.

By Mame Maïmouna Sy