Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Lebanon: Israeli occupation forces carried out an explosion in the southern border town of Kfar Kila
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.

Revolutionary Thomas Sankara, comrades reburied in symbolic funeral

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 23 Feb 2023 19:51
3 Min Read

Thomas Sankara and his 12 comrades have been reburied at the site of their assassination in a symbolic funeral attended by soldiers and community leaders.

  • x
  • A military officer stands in front of the coffin containing the remains of Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader, Thomas Sankara, during his reburial ceremony in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 (AP).
    A military officer stands in front of the coffin containing the remains of Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader, Thomas Sankara, during his reburial ceremony in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (AP)

Pan-African leader Thomas Sankara, who was assassinated in Ouagadougou during a 1987 coup, was reburied on Thursday at the location of his assassination in what was considered a symbolic state funeral in honor of the late revolutionary and the 12 people that were killed with him.

Following the ousting of former President Blaise Compaore, Sankara's body was exhumed in 2015 as part of an investigation. Eight years later, Sankara and his friends were reburied, coffins wrapped in the Burkinabe flag, in a ceremony led by soldiers and community leaders.

The body of Burkina Faso revolutionary icon and pan-Africanist Thomas Sankara is to be reburied today alongside 12 comrades at the spot where they were assassinated in a coup on October 15, 1987. pic.twitter.com/JOGzk8e2nw

— African News feed. (@africansinnews) February 23, 2023

“Africa’s Che Guevara,” has not been forgotten, and his killer, Compaore, who now lives in Ivory Coast, was tried in absentia and convicted of complicity in the murder of Sankara and his comrades. Gilbert Diendere, the then-president's right hand, and former spy chief Tousma Yacinthe Kafando, alongside eight other individuals, were also convicted.

Burkina's youth resurrect Thomas Sankara's anti-colonial project

A special rapport published by Sputnik on January 28 revealed that the recent wave of political changes that have swept in Burkina Faso over the past year has marked an important shift in the political consciousness of Burkina's youth. 

Related News

Burkina Faso declares UN official 'persona non grata'

Ghanaian defense, environment ministers killed in helicopter crash

In the past year alone, Burkina Faso has witnessed two separate military coups, the most recent yielded by Capitaine Ibrahim Traoré who rid the nation of his predecessor, Paul-Henri Damiba, a military officer who maintained close ties with France and is considered a traitor to the nation. 

Activists interviewed by the agency explained they actively supported changes that they regard as anti-colonial and anti-imperialist, an approach that is relevant considering recent warnings the West African nation has issued for French troops to leave the territory.

One of the activists, a filmmaker named Abdoul Salam Koussoube, told the agency that the political turmoil invoked the youth's radical demands for substantial political change.

"Recent events force us to revisit history, when this country experienced a progressive military regime that changed its destiny forever from 1983-1987. We dare to believe and hope that the current authorities are working in the same direction, even if it must be recognized that the mechanisms of oppression of imperialism do not make the task easy. Personally, my hope comes from the fact that it is the younger generation, especially those who are out of school and excluded from the system of governance, that are currently leading the revolt against Western influences as well as against local valets," he told Sputnik.

The African nation's history does not go unnoticed as its previous leaders, in particular Sankara, left an unprecedented mark in the history of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism. 

Thomas Sankara(1987)

from the documentary
“Concerning Violence”:https://t.co/CarZ1ZmdYB pic.twitter.com/XCeYW6kpWa

— darius. (@_dariussimpson) February 14, 2023

The African leader led a military coup in 1983 and introduced some of the continent's most progressive reforms, including mass vaccination programs which contributed to eradicating polio. He launched education programs to combat the nation's 90% illiteracy rate and initiated large-scale housing and infrastructure projects in efforts to end urban slums. 

Read more: France officially withdraws last military troops from Burkina Faso

  • Burkina Faso
  • Thomas Sankara

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025
The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

A Palestinian youth stands on a hill overlooking IsraelI Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP)
Politics

77 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 7

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference with US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Tuesday, August 26, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy Barrack calls Lebanese journalists 'animalistic"'

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)
Politics

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS