The head of the military regime of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, chaired a council of ministers in Ouagadougou on Thursday morning, June 20, according to the presidency, two days after the army refuted all “mutiny” in barracks.
“The President of Faso, Head of State, Captain Ibrahim Traoré chairs, this Thursday, June 20, 2024, the weekly council of ministers. Files will be examined and important decisions taken for the smooth running of the nation”announces the presidency on its Facebook account.
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Several photos have also been published where we can see Mr. Traoré smiling while talking with ministers. This publication comes after several days of uncertainty in Burkina Faso, following a deadly jihadist attack in the northeast of the country.
Tuesday evening, the army had qualified “unfounded and misleading” THE “rumors on social networks” reporting “of mood swings and mutinies in certain military barracks”.
The deadly attack in Mansila
On June 11, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, affiliated with Al-Qaeda) attacked the town of Mansila (North-East) as well as the military detachment located there near the border of Niger. No official report has been given but, according to a security source, “many items are missing”. Military detachments deployed in Burkina Faso generally consist of around 150 elements.
The military regime of Captain Traoré, who came to power through a coup on September 30, 2022, has not communicated about this attack.
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The next day, a shell fell in the courtyard of the public television station located near the presidency in Ouagadougou. A “shooting incident”, according to state television. Since then, Captain Traoré had appeared twice: Friday in a report on public television for a blood donation where he had urged the population to imitate him, and Sunday for the Eid prayer, without speaking.
Burkina Faso – like Mali and Niger, its neighbors – has been hit for almost ten years by attacks by jihadist groups which have left more than 20,000 dead and 2 million displaced. The authorities regularly claim to obtain victories over the jihadists, but the attacks continue and part of the territory remains outside the control of the army.
