• Burkina Faso’s President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba has fired his defence minister and taken over the position himself.
• General Barthelemy Simpore was fired from his position as defence minister.
• The mini-shuffle comes after a slew of fatal Islamist assaults this month.

According to decrees issued Monday in the jihadist-affected nation of Burkina Faso, junta leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who seized control in a coup in January, has fired his defence minister and taken over the position himself.

General Barthelemy Simpore was fired from his position as defence minister in the first decree, which was read aloud on national television. In the second, it was stated that the “president has taken over the duties of the minister of national defence and veterans”.

Colonel Major Silas Keita was elevated to brigadier general and appointed minister delegate in charge of national defence alongside him.

The mini-shuffle, which came after a slew of fatal Islamist assaults this month in the West African nation, only included Keita as a new minister.

The army reported that two troops and 12 “terrorists” were killed on Monday following an attack on a military outpost in the jihadist-infested north of Burkina Faso.

The seven-year-old insurgency that has displaced roughly 1.4 million people from their homes and claimed more than 2,000 lives is gripping the landlocked nation.

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