4 times Burkina Faso's Ibrahim Traoré claimed to foil plots against his life

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso’s fiery military leader and interim president since his 2022 coup, has positioned himself as a symbol of pan-African resistance, defying foreign influence in a turbulent Sahel.

Yet, this bold stance has come at a cost, with Traoré repeatedly claiming to be the target of sinister plots and assassination attempts aimed at crushing his vision for a sovereign Burkina Faso.

Below are four documented instances where Traoré or his administration have alleged conspiracies against him, casting him as a revolutionary under siege.

September 2023: The "destabilisation" plot

In September 2023, barely a year after seizing power, Traoré’s government announced it had thwarted a coup attempt to destabilise his regime. The junta claimed that plotters, including military officers and civilians, sought to overthrow Traoré and reverse his anti-Western policies, such as expelling French forces. In a statement read out on state television, it said, "A proven coup attempt was foiled on September 26, 2023, by Burkina Faso's intelligence and security services. "At present, officers and other alleged participants in this destabilisation attempt have been arrested and others are being actively sought,"

April 2025: The Ivory Coast conspiracy

On April 21, 2025, Traoré’s junta revealed it had foiled a “major plot” to overthrow him, allegedly orchestrated by current and former soldiers based in Ivory Coast. The conspirators reportedly planned to attack the presidential palace and sow chaos, as detailed by the BBC. The announcement triggered massive rallies in Ouagadougou on April 30, with supporters chanting Traoré’s name across West Africa and the diaspora. Ivory Coast denied any involvement, but the claim heightened regional tensions and reinforced Traoré’s image as a target of foreign-backed schemes.

April 2025: The “119 conspirators” plot

Days before the Ivory Coast plot announcement, Traoré claimed to have survived a sprawling conspiracy involving 119 plotters, allegedly linked to former junta leader Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Damiba. According to SF Bay View on April 12, 2025, this plot was part of a broader claim that Traoré had survived “over 20 assassination attempts.” The junta accused the conspirators of seeking to restore Western-aligned governance, though no independent verification of the plot’s scale has emerged.

June 2025: Conspiracy to betray the AES

On June 9, 2025, President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso warned that foreign powers are pressuring one member of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to betray the others, aiming to fracture the regional bloc formed by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Speaking at a national flag-raising ceremony in Ouagadougou, where the AES anthem was sung for the first time, Traoré denounced imperialist "manoeuvres" targeting the alliance’s unity and sovereignty. Traoré reaffirmed the alliance’s mission to ensure security, harness regional wealth, and improve living conditions for local populations. Calling for unity and resilience, he emphasised that the Sahel is no longer a zone of influence but a region determined to chart its own path.

These allegations come against a backdrop of unrelenting violence in Burkina Faso, ranked the world’s most terrorism-affected nation by the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with 6,389 deaths in 2024 alone.

Traoré’s defiance of Western powers, including his 2023 expulsion of French troops and pivot toward Russia, has made him a hero to many but a lightning rod for controversy.