Burkina Faso has thwarted a major plot aimed at destabilising its security, the country’s Security Minister, Mahamadou Sana, has claimed.

Speaking on state television, he said that a number of individuals residing in Ivory Coast have been implicated in these destabilisation efforts, including paying terrorist groups to attack crucial sites such as the presidential palace of Koulouba and a military drone base.

Sana claimed that the government has been monitoring these activities closely and has managed to prevent several attempts to undermine the country’s stability.

He identified several notable figures as being involved in the plot, including former foreign ministers Djibrill Bassole and Alpha Barry, ex-Dori mayor Aziz Diallo, and former interim president Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba. These individuals, along with others, are accused of engaging in subversive activities and propaganda against Burkina Faso. 

BRICS membership bid

This announcement came on the same day as the country’s Prime Minister, Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela, revealed that Burkina Faso now hopes to join BRICS. The bloc, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been expanded by five important new members: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia.

During a recent meeting with Russia’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Igor Martynov, Tambela argued that joining BRICS would help Burkina Faso counter the dominance of the dollar and euro and promote fairer international trade relations.

Burkina Faso’s decision to align closer to BRICS follows a trend of growing cooperation with Moscow, which is now its closest European ally. In June 2023, the country signed a cooperation memorandum with BRICS.