Burkina's military govt says foiled attempts to 'destabilise' country

"We were able to foil several attempts at destabilisation," Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said in a statement read out on state television late Monday.

He said Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was ousted from power in 2022, had led the "military part of this plot".

Several people had been arrested in connection with the plot, including Ahmed Kinda, a former commander of the country’s special forces, Sana said.

Damiba seized power in a January 2022 coup against elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Little more than eight months later, Damiba himself was overthrown by a 34-year-old captain, Ibrahim Traore, who is currently in power.

Under Traore, the landlocked West African country quickly turned its back on former colonial ruler France and vowed to stem a raging jihadist insurgency which swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

Burkina Faso has since turned to Russia for military assistance and bolstered ties with Iran and Turkey, as well as fellow Sahel countries Mali and Niger, which are also ruled by military governments fighting jihadist violence.