Burkina Faso government dismissed after PM Dabire resigns

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore accepts the resignation of PM Christophe Dabire, according to a decree.

Burkina Faso's leader relieves Dabire from his duties after the latter's resignation.
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Burkina Faso's leader relieves Dabire from his duties after the latter's resignation.

Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Christophe Dabire, resulting in the government's dismissal, according to a presidential decree.

In view of "the letter of resignation of December 8," the president decrees that "the duties of Prime Minister Christophe Joseph Marie Dabire are terminated," the government's secretary-general Stephane Wenceslas Sanou said on Wednesday as he read out the decree on public television.

Burkina Faso, one of West Africa's poorest nations, has been beset by attacks carried out by groups linked to al Qaeda and Daesh since 2016, killing civilians and forcing more than 1 million people to flee.

Anger has spilled over since al Qaeda-affiliated militants killed 49 military police officers and four civilians in November, the worst attack on the military in recent memory.

READ MORE: French soldiers injure protesters in Burkina Faso

Kabore under pressure

Kabore has been under pressure to make changes and has already reshuffled his army leadership. 

His announcement to accept Dabire's resignation appears to be an extension of the same purge.

Burkina Faso is at the heart of an insurgency that has also hit large parts of neighbouring Mali and Niger that sit in the arid Sahel region that borders the southern edge of the Sahara.

Despite campaigns by former colonial ruler France and other regional armies, attacks continue unabated, leaving local communities vulnerable.

READ MORE: Armed group kills several policemen in northern Burkina Faso

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