Burkina Faso experienced a tense night from Saturday 3 to Sunday 4 January, with heightened security alerts reported in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso following suspicions of an attempted coup. At the call of Citizen’s Watch associations that support the ruling military authorities, hundreds of people took to the streets to block what they described as a coup attempt. Several military barracks in the capital were placed on alert, with security sources confirming a strained situation, though without providing further details. On Sunday, January 4, a visible security deployment was reported outside the Baba-Sy camp in Ouagadougou.
Pro-regime media outlets reported multiple arrests and accused former transitional president Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba of orchestrating events from exile in Togo, where he has been since his removal from power in September 2022. The developments come against the backdrop of arrests carried out in late September, when several soldiers were detained on suspicion of undermining state security.