Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta announced on January 7, 2026, that it had thwarted what it described as a sophisticated and imminent plot to assassinate Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the country’s leader since seizing power in a 2022 coup. 

The announcement was delivered in a late-night national television address by Security Minister Mahamadou Sana, who said the operation had been stopped in its “final hours.”

According to the government, the plot was scheduled to be carried out on the night of January 3, 2026.

The alleged plan involved killing Traoré either at close range or by planting explosive devices at his residence. 

Authorities said the assassination would have been followed by coordinated attacks on key state institutions, senior military figures, and prominent civilians.

The junta claimed that intelligence services intercepted a leaked video showing alleged conspirators discussing operational details, which allowed security forces to intervene before the plan was executed.

Sana said the plot also included an attempt to disable Burkina Faso’s strategic drone-launch base, a move officials argued could have facilitated foreign intervention.

The government further alleged that around 70 million CFA francs, roughly $125,000, had been transferred from neighboring Côte d’Ivoire to finance the operation. Several arrests have been made, including a businessman identified as Madi Sakandé, who authorities say admitted to having contact with the alleged mastermind.

Investigations are ongoing, and officials said suspects would be brought to justice.

The junta directly accused Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, Traoré’s immediate predecessor, of orchestrating the plot.

Damiba ruled Burkina Faso briefly from January to September 2022 after overthrowing elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, before being ousted by Traoré in a counter-coup. He has since lived in exile in Togo.

Neither Damiba nor the authorities in Côte d’Ivoire have publicly responded to the allegations.

This is not the first time Burkina Faso’s junta has announced the disruption of an assassination or coup plot.

Similar claims were made in 2023, 2024, and again in April 2025, frequently accompanied by accusations of foreign involvement, particularly from Côte d’Ivoire.

These announcements have coincided with Burkina Faso’s growing estrangement from Western allies and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Traoré, 37, has cultivated a strong domestic following through pan-Africanist rhetoric and a confrontational stance toward former partners, while critics point to restrictions on media and arrests of opponents.

The latest allegations come as Burkina Faso, along with Mali and Niger, deepens cooperation within the Alliance of Sahel States amid persistent jihadist violence that has displaced millions across the region.