Without going into specifics, Burkina Faso’s military junta said on Wednesday that security and intelligence agencies had prevented a coup attempt the day before.
According to a statement, officers and others planned to undermine the government with “the dark intention of attacking the institutions of the Republic and plunging our country into chaos.”
No names were given, but it did state that some arrests had been made and searches were still conducted for others. Investigations will aid in identifying the plot’s organizers, it stated.
Later, the military prosecutor said two persons were missing, and four others had been arrested. It said in a statement that it had launched an inquiry on Wednesday in response to “credible allegations about a plot against state security implicating officers.”
The junta suspended the French daily publication Jeune Afrique on Monday for publishing “untruthful” articles on tension and unhappiness in the armed forces of Burkina Faso.
The next day, tens of thousands of pro-junta protesters demonstrated in the streets of the nation’s capital, Ouagadougou, and other locations, claiming rumors of an impending uprising against the government.
A deteriorating insurgency by armed groups with ties to al Qaeda and Islamic State that destabilized Burkina Faso and its neighbors in the Sahel area of West Africa contributed to the junta’s rise to power after two military coups last year.
Early in September, fighting with terrorists resulted in the deaths of over 50 Burkinabe military and volunteer fighters, the highest toll in months.
