Shots were heard on Friday, September 30, 2022, before dawn, in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in the district housing the presidency and the headquarters of the military junta in power since last January, witnesses reported to the AFP, and the national television signal was cut off. “I heard heavy detonations around 4:30 a.m. (local and GMT), and there the roads around my house are blocked by military vehicles”, claimed one of them, living near the presidency. The origin of these shots remained unknown Friday morning. Several axes of the Burkinabè capital were blocked in the morning by soldiers, noted AFP journalists.
These soldiers are posted on the main crossroads of the city, in particular in the district of Ouaga 2000 where the presidency and the military camp of the junta in power are located, but also in front of the headquarters of national television, noted one of ‘them. The national television signal was cut off on Friday morning, with a black screen replacing programs with a message saying “No video signal” (“No video signal”).
The signal of the @rtburkina is cut #Ouagadougou pic.twitter.com/W6dijCU724
— Fanny Noaro-Kabré (@FannyNoaro) September 30, 2022
Burkina Faso is ruled by a military junta that overthrew elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. The strong man of this junta, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had promised to make security his priority, in this country undermined for years by jihadist attacks. But the situation has not improved and the deadly attacks, affecting dozens of civilians and soldiers, have continued. This week again, a convoy which was to supply the town of Djibo (north) with food was attacked by suspected jihadists: 11 soldiers died, 28 people were injured and 50 civilians missing, according to the latest official report.
Since 2015, recurrent attacks by armed movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, mainly in the north and east of the country, have killed thousands and displaced some two million people. Since last year, Burkina Faso has become the epicenter of violence in the Sahel, with more deadly attacks than in Mali or Niger in 2021, according to the NGO Acled. More than 40% of the territory is outside state control, according to official figures.