OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO (AP) – The leader of Burkina Faso’s junta Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba has been declared president this week, the West African country’s Constitutional Council said in a statement.
Damiba is to be officially inaugurated on February 16, military officials confirmed on Friday, although his term as president is effective retroactively from January 24, when soldiers overthrew the democratically elected former President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Damiba has vowed to restore security to the conflict-riddled nation, which is seeing a dramatic increase in attacks by extremists linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
