Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, ousted Burkina Faso junta leader
PARIS, Oct 2 (NNN-GNA) — The French government has rejected allegations by the new military junta in Burkina Faso to the effect that they are supporting ousted leader Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The allegation was leveled by the Captain Ibrahim Traore-led junta that took power on Sept 30 with a promise to restore security across the West African nation.
According to an Oct 1, statement read on national TV, RTB, a member of the new junta, Sous-Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Kabre, said the former leader of the MPSR – name of the junta, had refused to leave power quietly.
Kabre alleged that Sandaogo Damiba was planning a “counter-offensive” and claimed further that he’s doing this from a French base.
In an Oct 1 statement from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, France denied the allegation and said it was not hosting Damiba in any of its facilities.
“France formally denies any involvement in the events underway since yesterday in Burkina Faso.
“The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy,” the statement read.
New junta leader Captain Traore’s announced the takeover of executive power and deposition of Damiba, barely 10 months after the later seized power from democratically elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore.
The junta dissolved the government and the transitional national assembly as well as imposed a curfew and closed all the country’s borders.
The overthrow was premised on continued deterioration of the insecurity situation even as terrorists continue to launch deadly raids on security forces and the local population. — NNN-GNA
