The Burkinabé masses come out on the streets to defend AES president Traoré. Vũ Văn Sơ reports.
On the night of 3-4 January 2026, a coup and assassination plot against Ibrahim Traoré, president of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), was uncovered and neutralised by Burkinabé intelligence. The plot was organised by former president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba with the financial support of Côte d’Ivoire, a major ally of France and the US in the region. Social media groups called on Burkinabé citizens to mobilise in defence of the government, prompting hundreds to gather in Ouagadougou chanting support for Traoré and vowing to defend his anti-imperialist project.
The failed coup
According to security minister Mahamadou Sana, the anticipation and coordinated action of Burkinabé intelligence thwarted the plot before it could materialise and several putschists were arrested. Captured putschists confirmed that the plot involved the assassination of Ibrahim Traoré and other key figures of the government and military, along with the neutralisation of a Burkinabé military drone base to facilitate a foreign military invasion.
Damiba is former transitional president of Burkina Faso between January and September 2022. During his tenure, he failed to contain the JNIM jihadist insurgency and allowed imperialist France to maintain a military garrison in the country. Damiba was overthrown by Captain Traoré with the support of the Burkinabé people. He organised several failed coup attempts against Traoré from Togo, bribing other reactionary Burkinabé officers and bureaucrats. On 18 January 2026, Damiba was arrested by Togolese authorities and extradited to Burkina Faso.
External threats
The biggest part of the funding for the coup came from Côte d’Ivoire, which had pledged 70 million CFA Francs to the plot. Côte d’Ivoire is a member of ECOWAS and a major ally of France and the United States, accused by Ibrahim Traoré of harbouring ‘all the destabilisers’ of Burkina Faso. It had also deployed troops, along with France and its ECOWAS allies, to restore the comprador regime of Patrice Talon in Benin ousted by a popular coup in December 2025.
Benin, like the AES, is being destabilised by jihadist proxies of France, which uses the country as a training ground to destabilise Burkina Faso. Terrorist leaders had been in contact with reactionary elements of the Burkinabé military to plot another failed coup in April 2025. A successful popular coup in Benin could have allowed the AES to gain a new ally and access to the sea via the Bay of Benin. Hence why the French-ECOWAS military operation promptly restored imperialist control over Benin to maintain a military presence that threatens Burkina Faso’s southern border.
A popular movement
The destabilisation attempts of imperialism have failed to break the resolve of the Burkinabé people. On the night of 3-4 January, the Citizen’s Nightwatch or ‘Wayian’, a grassroots citizens vigilance group defending the country’s popular and progressive revolution, were notified of a coup attempt on social media and immediately took to the streets of Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso. For the entire night, they occupied roundabouts to show their support and offer their protection to Ibrahim Traoré and the AES.
2025 has been a turning point for Burkina Faso in terms of sovereignty and economic transformation. Burkina Faso has made great progress in retaking territory from armed terrorist groups, achieving food self-sufficiency, and strengthening control over strategic resources like gold and cotton. The year also saw industrialisation efforts like the local processing of agricultural products, anti-corruption and administrative reforms, and sovereignty-respecting diplomatic partnerships as part of building a more independent, emerging nation.
The Burkinabés will not tolerate another coup attempt and will do everything in their power to defend the gains of their revolution. In a context of regional tensions, terrorist attacks, and constant imperialist interference, as well as the US imperialist invasion of Venezuela and the kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro, the Wayian are justified in their vigilance.
Imperialism out of Africa! Long live the AES! À bas l’impérialisme!
