Home West Africa Burkina Faso reports about division in military ranks over Traore assuming power

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Burkina Faso reports about division in military ranks over Traore assuming power

October 8, 2022

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(3 minutes read)

Demonstrators gathered in the capital city of Burkina Faso to show their support for the country’s new junta leader. There are reports about internal divisions in the army after the junta leader assumed power. Ibrahim Traore was declared president recently after a two-day standoff that ousted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who had seized power only in January.

Traore was at the head of a core of disgruntled junior officers. There were rumours, just a few days later, of discussions among some other army generals over replacing him. A crowd of several hundred people, mostly young men, gathered in front of the national radio and television centre in the city raising slogans supporting Traore.

Rumours circulating in Ouagadougou claimed there was a division among the junior officers represented by Traore and the high-ranking officers who moved in the same circles as Damiba, the former ruler.

https://trendsnafrica.com/burkina-fasos-new-military-leader-calls-for-quick-action-to-lift-economy/

https://trendsnafrica.com/second-coup-in-burkina-faso-in-eight-months/

After an hour of protesting, a soldier sought to calm the crowd and the new government denied rumours of a split. Calm has returned to the streets of Ouagadougou, according to sources. People are talking about the difference between the present military ruler and the one he has replaced. Traore graduated as an officer from Burkina Faso’s Georges Namonao Military School, considered to be a second-rung institution; whereas Dambia is a product of the prestigious Kadiogo Military Academy. There are speculations that Burkina Faso would forge greater ties with Moscow at the expense of France, with the coming into power of the present dispensation.