Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Three French diplomats have been declared "persona non grata" in Burkina Faso "for subversive activities," according to a note released by the Burkina foreign ministry on Thursday.

The note to the French embassy in Burkina Faso, dated Tuesday, said the three diplomats were ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.

The three diplomates were identified as Gwenaielle Habouzit, and two political counsellors, Herve Fournier and Guillaume Reisacher, according to the note.

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia has reopened its embassy in Burkina Faso after it was shut more than 30 years ago, officials have said.

Burkina Faso was a close ally of former colonial power France, but has pivoted towards Russia since the military seized power in a coup in 2022.

The junta has expelled French diplomats and has shut France’s military base in the country.

At the same time, it has been strengthening military and diplomatic ties with Russia.

France had condemned the coup in Burkina Faso, as well as in neighbouring Mali and Niger.

OUAGADOUGOU, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Mali and Burkina Faso will send a joint delegation to Niamey, the capital of Niger, on Monday in a show of solidarity amid a coup crisis, the Malian army said.

"Burkina Faso and Mali are sending a delegation to Niamey ... to show the solidarity of the two countries with the brotherly people of Niger," the army tweeted.

OUAGADOUGOU, April 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 44 civilians were killed on Thursday night in two terrorist attacks in northern Burkina Faso's Sahel Region, said a regional government official on Saturday.

In a statement, Lieutenant Colonel Rodolphe Sorgho, who is the governor of the Sahel Region, said that armed terrorist groups broke into the villages of Kourakou and Tondobi, located about five km from the commune of Seytenga in the province of Seno, killing 44 civilians and causing injuries and material damages.

OUAGADOUGOU, Feb 7 (NNN-IRIN) – At least 25 people were killed on Saturday, in a terrorist attack in northern Burkina Faso’s Sahel Region, said a regional government official, last night.

In a statement, Lieutenant Colonel Rodolphe Sorgho, who is the governor of the Sahel Region, said, armed terrorist groups perpetrated a violent attack, Saturday afternoon, in the commune of Bani, of the province of Seno, killing 25 people, including 22 civilians and three police officers.

OUAGADOUGOU, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 28 civilians were killed in the overnight of Friday to Saturday in Burkina Faso's northern Kossi province, an official statement said Monday night.

Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo, the spokesman of the government, said the tragedy occurred in Nouna, the provincial capital of Kossi in the northwestern Boucle du Mouhoun region in Burkina Faso.

He said that an investigation was immediately opened by authorities to clarify the circumstances of the tragedy and identify the responsibilities.

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday morning for "explanations" after Ghana's president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso's foreign ministry said.

Speaking to reporters alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the mercenaries.

OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso's self-declared military leader Captain Ibrahim Traore has accepted a conditional resignation offered by President Paul-Henri Damiba to avoid further violence after Friday's coup, religious and traditional leaders said on Sunday.

Traore said that order was being restored after violent protests against the French embassy and days of fighting as his faction moved to topple the government.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Gunshots rang out Saturday in Burkina Faso’s capital amid signs of lingering tensions a day after a group of military officers overthrew the man who had seized power in a coup only nine months earlier.

Roads remained blocked off in Ouagadougou, where a helicopter could be heard flying overhead. An internal security analysis for the European Union seen by The Associated Press said there was “abnormal military movement” in the city.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Gunfire rang out early Friday in Burkina Faso’s capital and the state broadcaster went off the air, sparking fears that another coup attempt may be underway, nine months after the democratically elected president was ousted from power.

The whereabouts of coup leader-turned president Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba was not immediately known but a statement from his government on Facebook urged people to remain calm.