Burkinabe Military Coup Prompts Fears of Further Instability

By Staff, Agencies

The military coup deposing Burkina Faso’s President Roch Kabore is the fourth in a string of recent military takeovers in West and Central Africa, prompting fears of further regional instability.

Mutinous soldiers demanding more support for their fight against armed groups announced on Monday that they had toppled the democratically elected president.

While the takeover sparked widespread international condemnation, it was greeted with significant support in Burkina Faso.

“Kabore lost the confidence of Burkinabe citizens, there is no doubt in that,” according to Daniel Eizenga, an analyst at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington.

Yet, whether the takeover can deliver on the popular demand for better security or provide “an opportunity for armed insurgency groups to further build on their operations in the area” remains to be seen, Eizenga added.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been fighting armed campaigns by groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh [Arabic for ‘ISIS/ISIL’] that have spilled over from neighboring Mali.

The number of attacks has risen from nearly 500 in 2020 to more than 1,150 in 2021, placing the country well ahead of Mali’s 684 and Niger’s 149 violent events.

Local security forces and civilians have been the primary victims of the violence by armed groups. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced by the conflict, according to estimates by the United Nations’ refugee agency, the UNHCR.