General Célestin Simporé

MOSCOW'S SECURITY REPUTATION TAKES A HIT When Burkina Faso's Célestin Simporé minister of war – a changed title identical to that of his hawkish US counterpart Pete Hegseth – presented plans for a new 100 000-strong military reserve on 24 April he could not have known that the next morning he would wake to news of a multi-pronged offensive by jihadists and Tuareg separatists in neighbouring Mali...

On 14 August the defence ministers of Mali Burkina Faso and Niger – Generals Sadio Camara Célestin Simporé and Salifou Modi – were in Moscow for talks with their Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov...

General Célestin Simporé until now the head of the joint chiefs-of-staff was appointed defence minister...

Kabré's replacement is Col Célestin Simporé a former Director of Engineering who was made head of the body co-ordinating all the state's military and paramilitary forces in the war effort the Commande des operations de théâtre national (COTN)...