Burkina Faso’s military leader, Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba has taken over the defence portfolio in the West African nation struggling with an ongoing Islamist insurgency.
This development was made public in a statement read Monday on national television but without giving any reasons for the cabinet reshuffle.
ALM recalls that Damiba seized power in January citing the previous government’s inability to tackle the problem of insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people including neighbouring Mali and Niger.
But attacks by militants linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda have continued unabated since the coup. At least 35 civilians were killed and 37 injured last week when a vehicle in a convoy hit an improvised explosive device.
Earlier on Monday, however, the army said two soldiers were killed and a dozen injured in an attack on a military unit in the north of the country near the Malian border. It also added that about a dozen armed assailants were killed in the attack.