Burkina Faso's military government said on Monday evening it had foiled a coup attempt that aimed "to sow total chaos" in the West African nation.

It claimed that the masterminds were located in neighboring Ivory Coast.

Interim President Ibrahim Traore, a military captain who himself came to power in a 2022 coup, has often accused Ivory Coast of harboring his opponents.

What did Burkina Faso's military junta say about the coup attempt?

"The meticulous work of the intelligence service has uncovered a major plot being prepared against our country whose ultimate aim is to sow total chaos," Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said in a statement read out on national television.

"According to the plan of the terrorist conspirators, the maneuver was to culminate in an assault on the presidency of [Burkina] Faso on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, by a group of soldiers recruited by the nation's enemies," he said.

"The brains outside the country are all located in Ivory Coast", he added.

He especially mentioned two former army officers, Major Joanny Compaore and Lieutenant Abdramane Barry, as being among the masterminds of the alleged planned coup.

According to Sana, a dozen other officers and non-commissioned officers, including the commander Ouedraogo Frederic, have been questioned.  

Repression of dissent under Traore

Since the junta, under Traore's leadership, took power in September 2022, it has increasingly cracked down on people it sees as hostile to its authority, with kidnappings and extrajudicial arrests the order of the day. 

A dozen military personnel, including two officers, were arrested last week after junta supporters accused them of planning to "destabilize" the government, security sources told the AFP news agency on Monday. 

Over the past year and more, the junta has questioned several dozen military officers who have all been accused of plotting to undermine "republican institutions."

Traore said in July last year that "a center of operations to destabilize" Burkina Faso was located in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city and economic hub.  

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has also seen frequent Islamist violence carried out by groups linked to the "Islamic State" group or al-Qaeda, with over 2 million people displaced and thousands killed.

Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah