Fri Dec 06 22:13:46 UTC 2024: ## Burkina Faso’s Junta Dismisses Prime Minister, Dissolves Government

**Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso –** Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta unexpectedly dismissed Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela and dissolved the national government on Friday, December 6th, 2024. The junta’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, announced the decision without providing a reason, stating that current officials will remain in their posts until a new government is formed.

This move comes less than two years after Traore’s junta seized power in September 2022, ousting Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who himself had taken power in a coup eight months prior. The country, plagued by escalating extremist violence linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS, has seen thousands killed and over two million displaced in recent years. Approximately half the country remains outside government control.

Despite facing pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to hold elections and restore democratic rule, the junta extended its transitional period by five years in May. Burkina Faso, along with fellow coup-hit nations Niger and Mali, has severed ties with several Western partners, including France and ECOWAS. The junta’s inability to quell the ongoing security crisis, the very justification for its takeover, continues to be a major challenge. The dismissed government’s ongoing duties highlight the uncertainty surrounding the nation’s future.

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