Rumors of a mutiny against Burkina Faso's junta government spread like wildfire following an attack on one of the country's army bases. However, the country's head of state has dispelled the rumor, revealing that the attack was not an intended coup. Estimates reveal that there were over 100 casualties in the attack.
According to a report by Reuters, around 100 soldiers lost their lives in an attack by al Qaeda-linked insurgents on a Burkina Faso military base near its border with Niger.
This attack was immediately interpreted as a coup attempt on the country's military government which itself is a product of a coup. However, the leader of the military junta Capt Ibrahim Traoré, recently refuted the claim on national TV.
Responding for the first time since the incident, the junta leader stated that Burkina Faso had set up an operation following the attack and had dispatched reinforcement to tackle the insurgency. He, however, did not speak on the al Qaeda claims.
"It's absolutely not the case. We are here," Burkina Faso's leader stated, addressing the crowd assembled in front of RTB's offices.
This was in response to concerns about his safety, given the fact that on June 12, a shooting was heard near the presidency, and a rocket shell crashed near the headquarters of state-run RTB Television in the city, of Ouagadougou.
"The incident happened while we were at the council of ministers," he confirmed.
Traoré noted that the rocket shell had come from an accidental fire from the unit stationed at the RTB's courtyard to secure the workers at the TV station. He also noted that there were no casualties.
According to a Reuters source, Russian and Malian reinforcements have been brought on in the past week to buff up Capt Ibrahim Traoré's security detail.
Based on the sources, the neighboring junta-led governments have become more reliant on Russia rather than Western countries for security in a region (West Africa) riddled with political instability and Islamist insurgencies.
Between June 15 and June 18, a Russian-registered cargo jet flew seven times to Ouagadougou from Gao and Bamako in Mali, according to a Reuters analysis of FlightRadar24 flight monitoring data.
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