Spy Games in Burkina Faso

A former member of France's elite Foreign Legion was arrested earlier this month by Burkina Faso's security services after being accused of espionage.According to French publication 'Le Monde', the arrested 'Damian L', was employed as a security consultant at an Australian mining firm in the country. Currently he is being held incommunicado in the capital, Ouagadougou.This latest arrest follows that of four members of France's General Directorate of External Security (DGSE) for espionage in December last year. The four are still being held..What You Need to KnowThe highly experienced former legionnaire spent five years as a member of France's 2nd Parachute Regiment (REP) between 2002 and 2007. Moving later into private security and being stationed across the world, Damian L began work as a security consultant in Burkina Faso in 2020.An issue with his visa led to his arrest nearly two weeks ago, Le Monde claims. His room and belongings searched, the publication claims his updates on the security situation in the country led authorities to suspect him of espionage.As of yet, France's Foreign Ministry is yet to comment on the matter.So, What Now?The arrest comes just a few days after a devastating massacre at Barsalogho village in central Burkina Faso by the al-Qaeda linked militant group JNIM over the weekend.Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power through a military coup in 2022 has repeatedly accused France of utilizing agents to destabilize the country, which is facing a mammoth terrorist threat.Strained relations including the cutting of military and bilateral ties between the country and its former colonist have made negotiations regarding France's arrested nationals difficult, with Traore claiming in early July that French military bases in the Ivory Coast and Benin constituted a "center of operations to destabilize our country."The French military denied the claims however, stating that the European nation held no military bases in Benin.Since taking power, Traore has conducted a cleansing of his ranks, including conscripting critics of the junta, particularly prosecutors and judges who had attempted to open legal proceedings against junta supporters.Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed the military government is misusing an emergency law to authorize the conscriptions, with several journalists who had reported on the junta's activities kidnapped in recent months.