The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) delegation held talks with the new leader of Burkina Faso's junta, Ibrahim Traore, who led a coup last week, amid popular protests in the streets of the capital, Ouagadougou.

In the first contact with the new transitional authority in Burkina Faso, an ECOWAS delegation met with military commander Traore at the presidential residence, where the group is trying to persuade the coup plotters to speed up the process of returning to democracy.

The group made efforts during the past six months to persuade the leader of the coup last January, Colonel Paul Henry Damiba, to set a timetable for holding elections in the country, to no avail.

The visit was precipitated by ECOWAS and the African Union's fear that the new authority would abandon a previous commitment by the ousted military ruler to hand over power to civilians by July 1, 2024, or else the country would face economic and political sanctions such as those imposed on Guinea and Mali.

Pro-Russia protests

Dozens of supporters of the coup plotters gathered near the meeting place, carrying Russian flags, and chanted against ECOWAS and against France.

Traore warned the demonstrators that "anyone who carries out actions likely to disrupt the functioning of the Economic Community of West African States' mission will be held accountable by law."

In a statement, he expressed his regret for "the circulation of messages demanding to prevent the flow of this mission," and renewed his "call for calm" and "restraint."

On Sunday, Damiba agreed to resign, after two days of tension and anti-French demonstrations, after rumors spread on social networks that France had granted Damiba protection.

previous attack

On the other hand, the Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate, claimed responsibility for an attack on a convoy in Burkina Faso that killed more than 10 soldiers last month, SITE reported.

Armed men attacked a convoy carrying supplies to a town in northern Burkina Faso on 26 September, days before the military coup.

The previous government said that 11 soldiers were found dead, and 50 civilians were considered missing after the attack, but an internal security document issued today stated that the death toll was 27 soldiers.