By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Burkina Faso’s military junta has said it has uncovered an international plot to overthrow it, alleging that the attempt is linked with the massacre of hundreds of civilians by Islamist insurgents in August.
In a statement on Monday, interim security minister Mahamadou Sana said the Barsalogho attack was a first step meant to create chaos and facilitate the infiltration of “several terrorist groups” into the capital Ouagadougou.
The statement accused opponents of the junta, backed by Western intelligence and European mercenaries, of a vast, multi-pronged destabilisation plot orchestrated from other countries including Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria.
Regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has been critical of military takeover in the region, urging Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to return to civil rule.
“After Barsalogho, they needed to find a diversion given the scale of the tragedy,” he said in the allegation posted on Facebook.
Heritage Times HT reports that insurgents affiliated with al Qaeda had slaughtered hundreds of people who were digging defensive trenches around the town of Barsalogho on August 24, a massacre described as worst in recent times.
It has resulted in open outpouring of anger and grief among citizens.
Some critics and analysts however said the junta’s statement was an attempt to deflect blame for the killings and depleting security situation in the country.
“This is a vulgar attempt to deflect responsibility for what happened, to throw the blame on the opposition and paint them as JNIM accomplices,” an analyst said, referring to the Al Qaeda-affiliated group that claimed responsibility for the killings.
The junta came to power in a 2022 coup pledging to wipe out jihadists who have ravaged the landlocked West African country for years.
Violence has however increased, even as it turned to Russia for military assistance, ditching France its former colonizer.
