Burkina Faso Soldiers Take Control of State TV, Declare Countercoup

Members of the army claimed that the president had been overthrown

Demonstrations on Friday in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.Photo: olympia de maismont/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso—More than a dozen members of Burkina Faso’s army seized control of state television late Friday, declaring that the country’s coup leader-turned-president, Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had been overthrown.

The spokesman introduced Capt. Ibrahim Traore as the new head of the volatile West African country that is battling a mounting Islamic insurgency.

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