SW News: In the West African nation of Burkina Faso, the new leader of the junta, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has stated that the situation in the country was under control. He appealed to residents of the capital Ouagadougou to abstain from acts of vandalism aimed at the French embassy.

The leader’s comment came as security forces fired tear gas at the protesters who threw rocks at the embassy, assuming that the deposed military chief Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba was hiding out at a French base to plan a “counteroffensive”.
“We want to inform the population that the situation is under control and order is being restored,” said military spokesman Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho on national television. He asked people to “desist from any act of violence … especially those that could be perpetrated against the French embassy or the French military base”.

Unrest flared again in Burkina Faso on Friday when junior military officers deposed Damiba accusing him of failing to do away with the attacks carried out by ISIS and al-Qaeda militants. The ousted leader came to power in January through a military coup.

A statement released on Saturday signed by Traore said Damiba “is believed to have taken refuge in the French base at Kamboinsin in order to plan a counteroffensive to stir up trouble in our defense and security forces”.
On the other hand, France denied “any involvement” in the rebellion or that “Burkinabe authorities have been hosted or are under the protection of the French military”.

“The camp where the French forces are located has never welcomed Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy,” said the French foreign ministry in a statement.

The present overthrow of Damiba marked this year’s second military coup in Burkina Faso and the latest in the Sahel region.

“There has been international condemnation from France, the United Nations, the African Union, and the West African body ECOWAS – all calling for soldiers to return to their barracks,” said Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, from Dakar, the capital of neighboring Senegal.