Burkina Faso’s junta says its intelligence and security services have foiled a coup attempt

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FILE - Supporters of Capt. Ibrahim Traore parade waving a Russian flag in the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. A coup attempt against Burkina Faso’s military government has been thwarted by the country’s intelligence and security services, authorities said Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Sophie Garcia, File)

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FILE - Burkina Faso coup leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore participates in a ceremony in Ouagadougou, Oct. 15, 2022. A coup attempt against Burkina Faso’s military government has been thwarted by the country’s intelligence and security services, authorities said Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Traore was named as the transitional president and the junta set a goal of conducting elections to return the country to democratic rule by July 2024. (AP Photo/Kilaye Bationo, File)

By CHINEDU ASADU

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Burkina Faso’s military government said Wednesday its intelligence and security services had thwarted a coup attempt and were actively pursuing others believed involved in what it called a bid to “throw our country into chaos.”

A junta statement said the coup attempt happened Tuesday without providing further details.

“Officers and other alleged actors involved in this attempt at destabilization have been arrested and others are actively sought,” junta spokesman Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in the statement.

Burkina Faso is one of a growing list of West African countries where the military has taken power, accusing the elected governments of failing to keep their promises. The current junta seized power in September 2022 by ousting the military regime of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba about eight months after it staged a coup to remove democratically elected President Roch Marc Kaboré.

Capt. Ibrahim Traore was named as the transitional president. However, since its inception, the junta has struggled to end Burkina Faso’s security challenges — the very reason that it said prompted it to take over power in September 2022.

FILE - A mural is seen in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Wednesday March 1, 2023. Three survivors of an attack in Zaongo, central Burkina Faso, told AP that dozens of people were killed in their village on Nov. 5 when security forces attacked. One of the survivors, a 32-year-old farmer, said he photographed the horrific scenes of bodies as proof of the carnage before fleeing. (AP Photo, File)

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FILE - People take to the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Jan. 25, 2022 to rally in support of the new military junta that ousted democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and seized control of the country. The military juntas ruling Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger say they have agreed to create a joint force to fight extremist violence in their nations. No details of how the force will operate have been released, even though the countries are experiencing financial difficulties with overstretched militaries. (AP Photo/Sophie Garcia, File)

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Burkina Faso starting players pose for a team photo at the beginning of the African Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Mali and Burkina Faso, at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly stadium in Korhogo, Ivory Coast, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

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Ouedraogo said an investigation into the attempted takeover was underway and that those behind it had sought to cast Burkina Faso “into chaos.”

The announcement came a day after protesters marched in Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital, expressing support for the transitional government.

The junta’s statement praised citizens “for their resolute and historic commitment to defending the Homeland and protecting it against all those who want to take us backwards into history.” It also commended “the patriotic action and the high sense of duty” of the defense and security forces that thwarted the coup.

The transitional government is running Burkina Faso under a constitution approved by a national assembly that included army officers, civil society groups and traditional and religious leaders. The junta has set a goal of conducting elections to return the country to democratic rule by July 2024.

Burkina Faso has been ravaged by growing attacks by Muslim extremists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The violence has killed thousands, displaced more than 2 million people and pushed tens of thousands to the brink of starvation.

Since the country’s first coup in January 2022, the number of people killed by Islamic extremists has nearly tripled compared with the 18 months before, according to a recent report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.