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The military regime in Burkina Faso has said its intelligence service thwarted a plot to overthrow the junta in April.
It said the coup attempt was planned in Ivory Coast.
Since the Traoré-led junta seized power in September 2022, it has intensified suppression of perceived opposition, with kidnappings and arbitrary arrests becoming commonplace.
Last week, twelve military personnel—including two officers—were detained after junta supporters alleged they sought to "destabilize" the government, security sources informed AFP on Monday.
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Over the past year, dozens of officers have faced interrogation under accusations of attempting to subvert "republican institutions."
In July 2023, Traoré claimed that a "center of operations to destabilize" Burkina Faso was based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s economic capital.
The country has also endured persistent Islamist violence since 2015, with groups tied to al-Qaeda and the "Islamic State" displacing over two million people and claiming thousands of lives.
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Junta’s statement on the alleged coup attempt
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Security Minister Mahamadou Sana declared in a televised address:
The meticulous work of the intelligence service has uncovered a major plot being prepared against our country whose ultimate aim is to sow total chaos.
He further stated:
According to the plan of the terrorist conspirators, the maneuver was to culminate in an assault on the presidency of [Burkina] Faso on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, by a group of soldiers recruited by the nation's enemies.
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Sana implicated foreign actors, asserting:
The brains outside the country are all located in Ivory Coast.
Among the alleged conspirators, he singled out former officers Major Joanny Compaoré and Lieutenant Abdramane Barry.
Additionally, a dozen other personnel, including Commander Ouedraogo Frédéric, were reportedly questioned.