Military Coup in Burkina Faso Ousts Elected President

On January 24, 2022, army officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, suspending the constitution and dissolving parliament. The coup followed the government's inability to contain a jihadist insurgency that since 2015 had killed thousands and displaced approximately two million people. Jihadist forces controlled an estimated 40 percent of the country's territory. ECOWAS and the African Union suspended Burkina Faso. Damiba's junta initially attracted popular support but proved unable to reverse the security deterioration, leading to a second coup eight months later.