Burkina Faso’s junta leader sacks defense minister amid insecurity

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Burkina Faso’s junta leader Lt. Col. Paul Henri Damiba fired his defense minister, assuming the position in a mini-reshuffle announced Monday.

Damiba replaces Gen. Barthelemy Simpore, who had held the position since the regime of ousted President Roch Kabore, according to a decree.

In another change, Damiba appointed Colonel-Major Silas Keita to the position of Minister Delegate to the Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs after promoting him to brigadier general, the decree said.

Keita formerly worked as the secretary general in the Defense Ministry.

A senior officer of the National Armed Forces, Simpore had been a trusted member in the military government who is remembered for reassuring the public that the situation was under control during the early hours of the January coup.

The sacking of the defense minister comes on the back of persistent insecurity in the country posed by an insurgency that spread from neighboring Mali over the past decade.

A terrorist attack targeting the military detachment of Deou in the Sahel region Monday morning left two soldiers dead and a dozen wounded, the army said, adding at least a dozen terrorists were neutralized.

Last week, at least 35 civilians were killed and 37 others injured when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the Sahel region.

Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Burkina Faso amid its worst food crisis in a decade, international aid organizations said last week.