Army officers appear on Burkina Faso TV to declare counter-coup

Young men chant slogans against the power of Lt Col Damiba, against France and pro-Russia, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Friday (Sophie Garcia/AP)

More than a dozen members of Burkina Faso’s army seized control of state television late on 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 fighting a mounting Islamic insurgency.