Burkina Faso’s authorities have announced that they uncovered and disrupted an alleged plot to assassinate the country’s military leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Speaking in a late-night broadcast on Tuesday, the Minister of Security, Mahamadou Sana, said the planned attack was meant to take place on the night of January 3 and allegedly involved a network of civilian, military and foreign actors.
“Our intelligence services intercepted this operation in the final hours. They had planned to assassinate the head of state and then strike other key institutions, including civilian personalities,” Sana said.
He explained that the plotters had weighed two possible methods of carrying out the killing — either launching a direct assault on Traoré or planting explosives at his residence. Other senior civilian and military officials were also said to be among the intended targets.
According to Sana, the group also intended to sabotage a drone base ahead of what he described as a potential ground military intervention.
The security minister alleged that Burkina Faso’s former military ruler, Paul-Henri Damiba, was the mastermind behind the plan, accusing him of designing the operation, securing funds and recruiting collaborators. Damiba briefly led the country in 2022 before being removed from power by Traoré in a coup.
Sana further alleged that the plot was financed from neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, claiming that about 70 million CFA francs had been set aside to bankroll the operation.
As of the time of the announcement, neither Damiba nor the Ivorian authorities had responded to the claims.
The minister said several suspects had already been arrested, including businessman Madi Sakandé, who allegedly admitted to being in contact with Damiba. He added that investigations were ongoing to dismantle the entire network behind the attempted assassination.
