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Vol 66 No 6

Published 21st March 2025


Burkina Faso

Captain Traoré digs in for a long stay

The military ruler depends on a corps of ideological supporters who back his ambitions, but the regime is increasingly threatened by jihadists

It’s not even two years since the 34-year-old Captain Ibrahim Traoré overthrew his mentor, the previous military leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Damiba, with whom he had worked to build the Mouvement patriotique pour la sauvegarde et la restauration (MPSR). Yet he is looking at the possibility of serving not only his current five-year term, but another after that. Much will depend on security conditions, which are widely seen as having deteriorated since the return to military rule.

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