Dhaka, Senegal - Thousands of people gathered in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to support the junta on Wednesday after a U.S. official criticized the coup attempts and comments by junta leader Ibrahim Traore.

Last week, the West African state's military government said it foiled a "main plot" to overthrow the government leader Captain Ibrahim Trare, and the Army accused the planners of headquartered on the adjacent Ivory Coast.

Earlier this month, Michael Langley, head of the African U.S. military, alleged that he used Burkina Faso's gold reserves to benefit the military government at a U.S. Senate committee hearing.

On Wednesday, hordes of protesters gathered at the Ouagadougou Revolution, chanting "Captain Traore!" Some held banners showing General Langley's photo with the word "slave" written on it with the red marking. Others waved Burkina Faso and Russia's flags, close ally of West African countries.

Musician Ocibi Johann, who participated in the protest, said he was not surprised by the allegations initiated by Langley. "Iraq was destroyed because of Colin Powell's lies. Barack Obama lied and Gaddafi was killed. But this time, their lies won't affect us. That's why we told them - we don't oppose them - but we're against plunder and economic slavery."

Until last year, the United States had a military base in neighboring Niger, part of its counter-terrorism efforts in Sahel, a drought land in sub-Saharan, but withdrew after West African countries ended their military agreements between the two countries.

Burkina Faso and its neighbors Niger and Mali have fought for more than a decade with some rebellions from jihadist groups, including Al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

In recent years, the ruling military government has cut military ties with long-standing Western partners such as the United States and France and sought military support from Russia.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger formed their own security partnership in 2023 called the Sahel State Alliance.

After the September 2022 coup, Captain Ibrahim Trare was appointed Transitional President of Burkina Faso and promised to bring security and prosperity to West African countries, thus capturing the hearts of many young people in his country and the world.

Sekou Ansumariam Dukaly, one of the protesters, said he came from Liberia to Burkina Faso.

He said: “I came to Ouagadougou today to join this demonstration in support of Captain Ibrahim Traore because he represents hope for Africa, hope for black people, hope for the hope for freedom fighters around the world.”

However, since its inception, the junta has been working to end the security challenge in Burkina Faso - that's because it says what prompted it to take over power in 2022. According to conservative estimates, more than 60% of the country's countries are beyond government control, and more than 2.1 million people have lost their homes and nearly 65 million people need human assistance to survive.

Meanwhile, human rights groups say the country's armed forces and militia have committed widespread abuse in counterinsurgency operations, including the illegal killing of civilians accused of supporting Islamic combatants.

Rights groups say that due to the fact that military leadership has installed a de facto censorship, it is impossible to understand the situation in the country accurately.