Burkina Faso army Captain Ibrahim Traore has deposed military leader Paul-Henri Damiba, dissolved the government, and suspended the constitution and transitional charter, he said in a statement read on national television.
Traore said on Friday evening that a group of officers had decided to remove Damiba due to his inability to deal with a worsening armed uprising in the country.
The statement said Damiba had rejected proposals by the officers to reorganise the army and instead continued with the military structure that had led to the fall of the previous regime.
"Damiba's actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba," it said.
National stakeholders will be invited soon to adopt a new transitional charter and designate a new civilian or military president, it said.
Reporting from Dakar, Senegal, Al Jazeera correspondent Nicolas Haque said with 40 percent of Burkina Faso out of the control of the state, there is growing frustration over security in the country.
Haque said the leaders of the last coup also had promised to deal with the armed groups. “There’s a feeling – when I speak to people who are on the streets of Ouagadougou – of deja vu,” he added.
On Friday, Traore announced that borders were closed indefinitely and that all political and civil society activities were suspended. A curfew from 9pm to 5am was also announced.
“Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question,” said the statement signed by Traore and read out by another officer on television, flanked by a group of soldiers in military fatigues and heavy armour.
The statement said Damiba had rejected proposals by the officers to reorganise the army and instead continued with the military structure that had led to the fall of the previous government.
“Damiba’s actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba,” it said.
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