Burkina Faso names new PM as jihadists attacks worsen

Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Monday appointed a new prime minister, part of a reshuffle coinciding with a rising wave of jihadist attacks.

A decree naming Christophe Dabire as the new premier was read on state television by the government's general secretary.

Dabire was previously Burkina's representative at the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and in the 1990s served as minister to former president Blaise Compaore, partly at a time when Kabore himself was premier.

Dabire's portfolios were for health, followed by secondary and higher education, and then scientific research.

He takes over from Paul Kaba Thieba, an economist whose departure along with the rest of the cabinet was announced by the presidency on Friday.

No official explanation has been given for the reshuffle, but sources close to Kabore said he wanted a fresh approach on tackling the country's problems.

Burkina Faso, which lies in the heart of the vast Sahel region, is struggling with a bloody Islamist insurgency as well as bouts of social unrest.

On Friday, five people were killed and eight wounded in a clash between police and angry youths in the western town of Orodara.