Traore ousted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba
Burkina Faso’s new military leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, on Wednesday arrived in the Malian capital Bamako for his first foreign trip since taking power on September 30, an AFP journalist reported.
The head of Mali’s junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, who came to power in a putsch in August 2020, greeted 34-year-old Traore as he dismounted the plane at Bamako airport.
The two men then headed to a VIP airport lounge for private talks before continuing on to the presidency for further meetings with their respective delegations.
“The main issue will be the fight against terrorism,” a Burkinabe official said, referring to the two countries’ bloody struggle against jihadists.
The Malian foreign ministry said Traore’s “friendship and working visit” was scheduled to last around three hours.
The two Sahel states rank among the poorest and most volatile nations in the world.
Both leaders came to power at the head of army officers angered by failures to roll back Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
Along with neighbouring Niger, the two countries have suffered thousands of fatalities and more than two million people have fled their homes.
Traore ousted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who in January had toppled Burkina’s last elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Under Goita, Mali began to weave closer ties with the Kremlin, acquiring aircraft to strengthen its beleaguered armed forces and bringing in Russian “trainers”, described by Western countries as Wagner mercenaries.
As this relationship intensified, ties with Paris, Mali’s traditional ally, deteriorated and France became a target of vilification.
Paris this year pulled out the last troops it had deployed in Mali under its Barkhane anti-jihadist force in the Sahel.
The latest coup in Burkina has been marked by anti-French protests in which some demonstrators have waved Russian flags and demanded the departure of a contingent of 400 French special forces.
On Sunday, Burkina Faso’s new prime minister hinted that his country may look at stronger connections with Russia, in the light of “the new deal” in security.
