Burkina Faso has accused neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire of backing an alleged plot to assassinate the country’s military leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, saying the plan was foiled just hours before it was to be executed.
The allegation was made by Burkina Faso’s Minister of Security, Mahamadou Sana, who said the operation was scheduled for the night of 3 January and involved a network of civilian, military and foreign actors.
Speaking during a late-night broadcast on Tuesday, Sana said Burkina Faso’s intelligence services uncovered the plot ‘in its final hours’, preventing what he described as a coordinated attempt to destabilise the country’s leadership and institutions.
‘They had planned to assassinate the head of state and then strike other key institutions, including prominent civilian figures’, Sana stated.
According to the minister, the alleged conspirators explored two possible methods to carry out the assassination: a direct armed attack on Captain Traoré or the planting of explosives at his official residence.
He said the plot extended beyond the president, adding that other senior civil and military officials were listed as targets, suggesting a broader plan to cripple the state’s command structure.
Sana further alleged that the group intended to sabotage Burkina Faso’s military capabilities by destroying a drone base ahead of a possible ground operation, which he said was aimed at weakening national defence and facilitating further attacks.
In his address, the security minister accused Burkina Faso’s former military ruler, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, of being the principal architect of the plot.
According to Sana, Damiba allegedly designed the operation, mobilised financial resources and coordinated the recruitment of accomplices within and outside the country.
The minister went further to accuse Côte d’Ivoire of financing the alleged assassination attempt, claiming that a sum of 70 million CFA francs had been earmarked to support the operation.
Neither Damiba nor the Ivorian government has publicly responded to the accusations as of the time of filing this report.
Sana disclosed that several suspects have already been arrested in connection with the alleged plot. Among them is a businessman identified as Madi Sakandé, whom the minister said reportedly admitted to maintaining contact with Damiba.
He added that investigations were ongoing to dismantle the entire network and identify all individuals involved, both within Burkina Faso and abroad.
The accusations come amid heightened political tension in Burkina Faso following Captain Traoré’s rise to power through a military takeover in September 2022, which ousted Damiba. Since then, Traoré’s government has repeatedly alleged the existence of internal and external plots aimed at overthrowing his administration.
Relations between Burkina Faso and some neighbouring countries have also grown increasingly strained, particularly as the Sahel nation realigns its security and foreign policy priorities amid persistent jihadist violence and shifting regional alliances.
The latest claims, if substantiated, could further deepen diplomatic rifts in the region and raise concerns about escalating instability across West Africa.
