Burkina Faso’s defence minister slammed an “international alliance” against his country on Wednesday, claiming that there had been violations of the country’s airspace.
According to the country’s intelligence service, jihadist fighters dressed as soldiers carried out an April massacre of civilians, which some human rights organizations blamed on the army.
Colonel Kassoum Coulibaly, who was drafted by the military junta to rule the region, denied that the Russian mercenary force Wagner was stationed there.
Coulibaly was speaking in Ouagadougou at a meeting with union representatives and leaders of other civil society groups.
He suggested that the international coalition aligned against the country — the members of which he did not identify was responding to the country’s closer ties with Russia since the coup last September that brought the military to power.