BURKINA FASO
BURKINA FASO – Assassination of Sankara in Burkina Faso: former President Blaise Compaoré sentenced to life imprisonment

Opened in October 2021, 34 years after the murder of Thomas Sankara, the verdict of the trial fell on April 6 with the sentencing of former president Blaise Sankara to life imprisonment.
For his participation in the assassination of his predecessor Thomas Sankara, killed with twelve of his companions during a coup in 1987, Blaise Compaoré, now a refugee in Côte d’Ivoire, was sentenced to life imprisonment after a trial that lasted six months.
After several years of investigation and six months of hearing, the verdict of the trial of the alleged murderers of former Burkinabe president Thomas Sankara has finally fallen: besides Blaise Compaoré, the military court of Ouagadougou also sentenced to life the commander of his guard Hyacinthe Kafando and General Gilbert Diendéré, one of the chiefs of the army during the putsch of 1987.
The Military Prosecutor’s Office had requested 30 years in prison against Blaise Compaoré and Hyacinthe Kafando and 20 years against Gilbert Diendéré. As we can see, the court went further. Eight other accused are sentenced to sentences ranging from three years to 20 years in prison. Finally, three defendants were acquitted.
The trial was suspended after the coup d’état of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who overthrew President-elect Roch Marc Christian Kaboré on 24 January, then reinstated by the junta in power. But had once again been disturbed by the swearing-in of Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba before the Constitutional Council on 16 February.
The defence then filed a motion stressing that convictions were being sought for “attack on the security of the State”, while the putsch of Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba, validated by the Constitutional Council, constituted in itself an “attack on the security of the State”. This “enshrines the seizure of power by force as a constitutional mode of devolution of power,” the defense lawyers argued. An argument rejected by the Constitutional Council, allowing the trial to resume.
Captain Thomas Sankara was killed with twelve of his companions by a commando during a meeting at the headquarters of the National Council of Revolution (CNR) in Ouagadougou. He was 37 years old. His murder shocked and traumatized Africa. Compaoré, who succeeded him, remained in power for 27 years, and it took an insurrection that forced him to go into exile for a judicial process to start again, to lead to the trial that closed on April 6, 2022.
BURKINA FASO
BURKINA FASO – Ouagadougou and Dakar join forces to fight terrorism

The Senegalese Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko made his first official visit to Burkina Faso on Friday, May 16, 2025. During this visit, he reaffirmed to Captain Ibrahim Traoré the willingness of Senegal to provide its support in the face of the terrorist threat in the Sahel.
On an official visit to Ouagadougou, Ousmane Sonko, Prime Minister of Senegal, was received in audience by the President of the Transition of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré. Accompanied by three members of his government—Yassine Fall, Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration; Birame Diop, Minister of the Armed Forces; and Khady Diène Gaye, Minister of Sport — The head of the Senegalese government engaged in more diplomatic exchanges at the summit.
This first visit to Burkina Faso takes place against a background of high security tensions in the region. At the end of his meeting with President Traoré, Ousmane Sonko wished to express “the solidarity of the Senegalese people towards the people of Burkina Faso in the face of this test imposed on them, which they did not choose”. In addition, he provided “absolute support” to the transitional authorities and affirmed Senegal’s readiness to consider “any possibility of collaboration and support” in the face of the terrorist threat. He also stressed the need for a united and structured response, because, he said: “None of our countries can escape this gangrene”.
Ousmane Sonko, in his statements, calls for a collective approach to security in West Africa. He also said: “It is illusory to believe that the security threat will stop at the borders of Burkina Faso, Mali or Niger. It is a struggle of all West Africa”.
Ousmane Sonko not only spoke to Ouagadougou, but also to Bamako and Niamey.
Apart from the diplomatic issues, the visit of the Senegalese Prime Minister also has a historical dimension. Indeed, on Saturday, May 17, 2025, he took part in the inauguration of the Thomas Sankara Mausoleum, an emblematic figure of Pan-Africanism and its 12 companions in Ouagadougou. For the Senegalese Prime Minister, Thomas Sanka who is one of his master thinkers “has been illuminating all the pan-Africanist and sovereignist struggles on the continent for a few decades”. He also planned to meet with the Senegalese community living in Burkina Faso.
BURKINA FASO
BURKINA FASO – Draft revision of the constitution: The ESC and the Ombudsman of Faso removed, French will no longer be the official language

The adoption of a bill revising the Constitution, this is the main information from the Council of Ministers. As implications included in this bill, the Minister of Justice, Rodrigue Bayala, has indicated that French will become a working language and national languages will become official languages.
Institutions such as the Ombudsman of Faso and the Economic and Social Council (ESC) will also be abolished. Their duties and functions will be entrusted to an institution called the “Conseil national des communautés”. According to the minister in charge of justice, this new institution will be composed of religious leaders, customary and grassroots communities.
The transformation of the National Intelligence Agency into the National Security Council, a body that will be constitutionalized and the abolition of the High Court of Justice are also reforms contained in the draft text.
BURKINA FASO
BURKINA FASO – A major terrorist attack targets the city of Djibo in the Sahel

The city of Djibo, located in the Sahel region, was the subject of a terrorist attack in the afternoon of Sunday, November 26, 2023. Numerous assailants arrived by motorcycle and car stormed the camp of the group of anti-terrorist forces and several strategic sites of the city. For more than two hours, they shot at the people, burned and looted everything they could. For the moment, no official communication on the outcome of this attack.
According to the news agency of Burkina it is «nearly 3,000 terrorists» who attacked the city of Djibo. Witnesses on the spot explain that the attackers came in large numbers and attacked the strategic points of the city, including the camp of the military detachment.
“The fighting was particularly violent at the military camp,” Burkina Faso’s news agency said. For several hours, the attackers occupied it just like the rest of the city. A security source reveals that “soldiers fell, all collective weapons, all ammunition and armoured vehicles carried away.”
A counter-offensive was carried out and «more than 400 terrorists» killed, says the Burkina news agency. A figure that cannot be independently verified. In addition, the agency does not mention possible losses and material damage, on the side of the Burkinabe forces.
For more than two years, the city of Djibo has been under the blockade of armed terrorist groups. The inhabitants are supplied by a WFP airlift or by the rare convoys escorted by the army of Burkina Faso. These convoys are regularly attacked by armed terrorist groups.
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