Compaoré has never acknowledged that a coup had taken place and claims to be a Sankara loyalist.[5]
Events
Sankara was killed by an armed group with twelve other officials, in a gun battle at the presidential palace.[6][7] Immediately, Compaoré assumed the presidency; he cited deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries as one of the reasons for the coup, and stated that Sankara jeopardised foreign relations with former colonial power France and neighbouring Ivory Coast.[8]
Aftermath
Following the coup and although Sankara was known to be dead, some CDRs (formed by Sankara, inspired by the CDRs in Cuba[9]) mounted an armed resistance to the military for several days.[10]
Compaoré described the killing of Sankara as an "accident", but the circumstances have never been properly investigated.[11] Sankara's body was dismembered and he was buried in an unmarked grave[12] while his widow Mariam and two children fled the nation.[13] The 2015 autopsy had revealed that Sankara's body was "riddled" with "more than a dozen" bullets, as reported by one of the lawyers representing Mariam Sankara.[14]
^Otayek, René (1986). "The Revolutionary Process in Burkina Faso: Breaks and Continuities". In Markakis, John; Waller, Michael (eds.). Military Marxist Régimes in Africa. London: Frank Cass. p. 95. ISBN113-517-654-X.
