Burkina Faso: The invasion of the military fears that there will be instability | Stories

The uprising that toppled the President of Burkina Faso Roch Kabore is the fourth in a series of recent military coups in West and Central Africa, sparking fears that some regions will again become unstable.

Rebel militants who want more help in their fight against the groups announced Monday to do so removed the democratically elected president.

Although the seizure sparked international opposition, it was received with great support from Burkina Faso.

“Kabore has lost the confidence of the citizens of Burkinabe, no doubt,” Daniel Eizenga, a researcher at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, told Al Jazeera.

However, if the seizure could meet the well-known demands for better security or provide “opportunities for armed terrorist groups to improve their operations in the area” remains to be seen, Eizenga added.

The rebels ‘announced the end of Kabore’

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been embroiled in a series of al-Qaeda-linked ISIS (ISIS) attacks from neighboring Mali.

The number of threats has risen from about 500 in 2020 to 1,150 in 2021, putting the country ahead of 684 Mali and 149 acts of violence in Niger.

Local security forces and civilians were the main victims of the attack. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced by the war, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Alex Vines, head of the Africa Program at Chatham House in London, told Al Jazeera that a spate of violence in Burkina Faso preceded the seizure of government has failed in September 2015 it is aimed at a transitional government following the resignation of former president Blaise Compaoré.

As a result, “intelligence and security were compromised and severely weakened in response to the seizure,” Vines said.

“As a result you were very weak in terms of its security equipment, which provided an easy way for some of these groups to move.”

Kabore’s People’s Movement for Progress (MPP) took up arms against the weakling as it was elected with 53 percent of the vote in Burkina Faso for the first time. transfer of electoral power in November 2015.

Since then, militants – including the Islamic-Muslim Support Group, or JNIM, allied with al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), an offshoot of ISIL – have confirmed further improvements. in the countryside and carried out an attack on the capital.

Last year, the frustration over the rapid security breach came to the fore. In June, Burkina Faso witnessed the worst military coup in the country’s history in which more than 130 civilians were killed in three hours. attack on Solhan, a remote village in Yagha prefecture bordering the eastern Niger, leading to increased anti-terrorism efforts.

No one claimed responsibility for the killings, but government officials said they were responsible for ISIL.

“I kneel before remembering the 100 civilians who were killed in the attack,” Kabore said in a televised address announcing the three-day funeral.

Another disruption of Kabore’s leadership occurred in November, when a attack on the gendarmerie post in the northern town of Inata killed 49 police officers and four civilians.

Inata’s attack “marked the end of Kabore”, according to Constantin Gouvy, an expert on Clingendael’s Conflict Research Unit in The Hague.

Reports that police had been without food and shelter for several weeks sparked widespread protests and outrage. In addition, in an effort to resolve petitions for his resignation and for military support, Kabore appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba as commander of the third military base in Burkina Faso, responsible for protecting the capital of Ouagadougou from terrorists.

Surprisingly, Gouvy said, the man called by Kabore to save the democratically elected government became the leader of the militia that ousted him on Monday.

Kabore’s whereabouts are unknown, though the military government said officials were being kept “in a safe place”.

Damiba was named the leader of the newly formed Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR).

Unlike the ousted president, Damiba sought to establish himself as a counter-terrorism expert. A student at a military academy in Paris, he is the author of the book West African Armies and Terrorism: Uncertain Responses? how they analyzed counter-terrorism measures in the Sahel region and their borders.

However, his plan to attack the military is unknown.

“There is still a lot that is still unknown, including how he agrees that he would do better to address the problem than Kabore,” Gouvy said.

“He has military prowess but it is unlikely that a change of leadership would solve the problem,” he added, including the military’s financial crisis, he added.

There is no ‘guarantee’ of freedom

Kabore’s removal was welcomed by the hundreds of Burkinabe on the streets of Ouagadougou Tuesday. Among the crowd, some also accepted the conspiracy as a liberation from the former French colony.

Paris expanded its military alliance with Burkina Faso at the request of President Kabore, including the country in Operation Barkhane against militants in the Sahel region of Africa. His intervention sparked opposition between citizens and government officials in Burkina Faso.

Protests by the military also carried Russian flags, calling for intervention, similar to what happened in the Central African Republic, where Russian troops fought off last year’s civil war.

Russia has also agreed to provide military assistance through government channels in Mali, although Bamako denies the presence of Russian troops from the Wagner Group following Western concerns.

There is no indication that Damiba will turn to Russia to join the defense. However, Vines said Moscow has been looking at positioning itself as an alternative to Westernization as dissatisfaction grows.

“Burkina Faso could be a good place for the Russian people to work with the military,” Vines said, adding that Moscow could be a political threat to authoritarian rule and a gradual separation from democratic governments on the continent.

The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold a special meeting on Friday to discuss how to respond to the fourth phase of hostilities last year, after Mali, Chad and Guinea.

“There are concerns among ECOWAS members that this [trend] it could be very widespread, “Gouvy said, adding that the blocyo should take a closer look at the box of its weapons.

Serious sanctions imposed on Mali after the assassination of leader Assimi Goita announced a five-year delay in returning to the country’s constitution became “a two-edged sword” as he provided support to the military, Gouvy said.

Damiba has vowed to return to Burkina Faso law “in a short time”.

But according to Eizenga, the turmoil marks a turning point in the country’s democratic process that began after 27 years of Compaoré rule.

“People [in Burkina Faso] “They felt like they wanted to change and they did not accept it and it is a failure of opinion,” said Eizenga. “But the overthrow of the government is very disruptive [the democratic process] by appointing unelected officials. ”

“Then there is no guarantee of citizens’ rights and their natural rights.”