Burkina Faso president toppled in coup, military mutineers say
Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the president of Burkina Faso, is being held by mutinous soldiers, two of the soldiers told The Associated Press early Monday. Heavy gunfire was reported outside the presidential residence in Ouagadougou, the West African nation's capital, on Sunday night and early Monday. The state news broadcaster RTB was under heavy guard Monday morning.
Kabore, elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020, has faced increasing public frustration over his inability to stop an insurgency by Islamist militants who have taken over sizable parts of the country. A suspected Islamist attack in November killed 53 people, mostly members of the security force. But one of the mutinous soldiers told AP a group of about 100 soldiers has been secretly planning to overthrow Kabore since August. Eleven soldiers were arrested last week for an alleged coup plot.
After the mutineers took control of the Lamizana Sangoule military barracks in Ouagadougou on Sunday, the government downplayed the uprising. "Well, it's a few barracks," Defense Minister Aime Barthelemy Simpore told RTB on Sunday, denying that Kabore had been seized. "There are not too many." That was the last statement from the government. Kabore hasn't been heard from since he congratulated the national soccer team on social media Sunday night.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The uprising has at least some popular support. Civilians came out to support the mutineers on Sunday but were dispersed by security forces and the capital was put under curfew.
If Kabore ends up deposed, that would be the region's third successful coup in the past 18 months, following the overthrow of the presidents of Mali and Guinea. The military also took control of Chad last year after President Idriss Deby died in battle.
-
Political cartoons for January 18Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include cost of living, endless supply of greed, and more
-
Exploring ancient forests on three continentsThe Week Recommends Reconnecting with historic nature across the world
-
The rise of the spymaster: a ‘tectonic shift’ in Ukraine’s politicsIn the Spotlight President Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff, former head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, is widely viewed as a potential successor
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
-
US offers Ukraine NATO-like security pact, with caveatsSpeed Read The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
