What happened
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba deposed the elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in January 2022, citing his handling of the insurgency. Eight months later, in September, Captain Ibrahim Traoré deposed Damiba on the same grounds, promising to restore security and sovereignty.
The second coup gave Burkina Faso the government it still has and the doctrine it still fights under — mass civilian mobilisation through the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland, declared as "total war". It also completed the Sahel's political realignment: within a year, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger were all governed by officers who had seized power on the argument that the previous order was losing the war. The argument has not been vindicated: insecurity and displacement have both worsened since.
Confidence: High
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