Burkina Faso arrests 8 soldiers for alleged plot against gov’t

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Eight soldiers in Burkina Faso were arrested Tuesday for allegedly planning to destabilize the republic's institutions, according to the military prosecutor's office.

"As of Jan. 11, 2022, eight soldiers have already been arrested and questioned" as part of "a detailed investigation" opened by the judicial police, the office said in a statement.

The office learned of the plot after “a member of the gang” denounced it, according to the statement.

The incident comes years after Gilbert Diendere, then chief of staff of former President Blaise Compaore, took Michel Kafando, Compaore’s interim successor at the time, and the government hostage in 2015.

On Sept. 17 of that year, the coup leaders announced that Kafando had been stripped of his functions and that the government and parliament had been dissolved under the pretext of preventing "the destabilization of the state."

Located in West Africa, Burkina Faso is also one of the Sahel countries that have been regularly affected by terrorist attacks since 2015.

The population, civil society and opposition have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the government is handling the security crisis.