Faced with jihadist attacks since 2015, Burkina Faso has been increasing ties with Russia in a bid to defeat the rebels…reports Asian Lite News
Tensions are rising between Burkina Faso and neighbouring Ghana following Ghana’s claim that Ouagadougo had invited Russian mercenaries into the country.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo made the comments last Wednesday sparking a diplomatic row.
“These 48 hours were marked by the words of Ghana’s president Nana Akufo Addo on an alleged contract between the transitional government and a private Russian company. Faced with such a situation, the logical thing to do was to urgently summon the Ghanaian ambassador in Ouagadougou, but also our ambassador in Accra for consultation”, said Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, Burkina Faso’s Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation.
Faced with jihadist attacks since 2015, Burkina Faso has been increasing ties with Russia in a bid to defeat the rebels.
“As for our ambassador in Accra, he reported to us as soon as these remarks were made. So we also invited him for consultation so that we could examine together what action would be taken on this matter. In any case, a verbal note of protest was sent to the Republic of Ghana via its national representation in Burkina Faso”, added the Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation.
Moscow has been actively courting public opinion on social media and enjoys growing popular support in several French-speaking African countries as France, the former colonial power, is increasingly reviled.
The new self-proclaimed head of the new military junta in Burkina Faso has called for an end to acts of “violence and vandalism” against France, amid high tension two days after the country’s latest coup.
The head of Burkina Faso’s ousted junta, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was overthrown on Friday by his rival Captain Ibrahim Traoré, agreed to resign this Sunday, after initially refusing to abdicate.
Damiba agreed to step down as long as his security and other conditions were met, and the new junta leader who overthrew him has accepted the deal, religious leaders mediating the West African nation’s latest political crisis said on Sunday.
French institutions in the West African nation have been attacked over the weekend, following reports that the former colonial power had given protection to Burkina Faso’s deposed leader, allegations strongly denied by Paris.
On Sunday, protesters were dispersed with tear gas from inside the French embassy in Ouagadougou.
