{"id":7506,"date":"2026-07-23T22:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/traore-denies-power-struggles"},"modified":"2026-07-24T00:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:14:46","slug":"traore-denies-power-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles","title":{"rendered":"Traor\u00e9 Denies Power Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>The head of the military council in Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, denied rumors regarding conflicts and divisions within the ruling circles, asserting that he is the sole leader managing the country&#8217;s affairs, and that any behavior he described as &#8220;hostile to the revolution&#8221; will face strict measures.<\/p>\n<p>During a speech delivered to a crowd of his supporters, Traore emphasized that &#8220;there is no first leader or second leader, and there cannot be two leaders on the same ship,&#8221; in a message considered a direct response to reports and posts circulated on social media and by observers discussing the influence of powerful figures on the authority&#8217;s decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Traore&#8217;s statements came after weeks of rising speculation about the fate of several senior officials in the military regime, following their disappearance from the public scene and absence from prominent official events, which raised questions about potential disagreements at the highest levels of power.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most notable figures whose absence sparked controversy is Amadou Yabri, head of the intelligence agency and the National Security Council, who has not appeared publicly since the end of May. He was absent from the flag-raising ceremony at the presidential palace, promotions of officers to the rank of general, and several official and religious events.<\/p>\n<p>A local source reported that Yabri has not been visiting his office at the intelligence agency, and his security detail at home has been reduced, alongside the dismissal of several of his close associates from their positions.<\/p>\n<p>Developments also included the imam Issaka Kindo, who was arrested on May 26 after criticizing a bill that restricts religious freedoms, and has not been seen since. Traore referred to him during his speech, harshly criticizing him, asserting that he &#8220;thought he was influential,&#8221; reiterating that there cannot be two leaders within the state.<\/p>\n<p>The absence of Captain Kisuensida Azaria Farouk Sourgu, one of the prominent members of the military council and former spokesperson for the army during the coup on September 30, 2022, has raised further questions, as he has not appeared publicly for two months, despite holding influential positions, including leading the fourth rapid intervention battalion and speaking for the &#8220;Kouragh&#8221; organization tasked with overseeing the implementation of the regime&#8217;s strategic vision.<\/p>\n<p>According to security sources, Sourgu&#8217;s deputy took over the battalion&#8217;s leadership during his absence, while reports suggested he was subjected to &#8220;kidnapping&#8221; by associates of Traore. Additionally, his father, former minister Adama Louk Sourgu, was reportedly detained by armed individuals days after his arrest, according to his close associates.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, Traore affirmed that all officials working with him are held accountable, stating that anyone who errs will be punished without hesitation, adding: &#8220;There are no strong men with me,&#8221; reaffirming his tight grip on power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press. The head of the military council in Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, denied rumors regarding conflicts and divisions within the ruling circles, asserting that he is the sole leader managing the country&#8217;s affairs, and that any behavior he described as &#8220;hostile to the revolution&#8221; will face strict measures. During a speech delivered to a crowd [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-7506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-policy","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Traor\u00e9 Denies Power Struggles - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The head of the military council in Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, denied rumors regarding conflicts and divisions within\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Traor\u00e9 Denies Power Struggles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The head of the military council in Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, denied rumors regarding conflicts and divisions within\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Africa Press English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-23T22:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T00:14:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/07\/sm_1784851685.064714.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1728\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1097\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Traor\u00e9 Denies Power Struggles\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-23T22:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-24T00:14:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles\"},\"wordCount\":475,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/07\/sm_1784851685.064714.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/traore-denies-power-struggles\",\"name\":\"Traor\u00e9 Denies Power Struggles - 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