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1 [1] (January 26, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govegot0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con r s&on I Research Seatc info ing I L I ~ d a e 'o 1914 Updated January 26, 2022 Burkina Faso On January 24, 2022, military officers ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabord-the first head of state in Burkina Faso to have entered office via elections-amid a worsening security and humanitarian crisis. The military's actions came amid rising tensions over the government's inability to stem Islamist insurgent attacks, and followed coups in Mali and Guinea. Regional and Western leaders have struggled to respond to the spread of conflicts in the Sahel region and democratic backsliding. Donors have also raised concerns with the recent arrival of Russian military contractors in Mali; some in Burkina Faso have called for increased Russian security assistance. Kabord was reelected to a second term in 2020 in elections marred by security threats in several regions and opposition claims of fraud. He faced growing public demands for greater security, job creation, governance reforms, and accountability for abuses under prior governments. In late 2021, as restiveness grew among troops and civilian protesters, he dismissed his cabinet and reshuffled the military leadership. Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, age 41, an army special operations forces officer who was elevated to a regional command post in the 2021 reshuffle, appears to have led the January 24 seizure of power. Insurgent groups control parts of the country and some have carried out terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou (Fig. 1), most recently in 2018. Some local and regional armed groups have ties to Al Qaeda or the Islamic State. Kaborets administration struggled to counter insurgent gains despite donor backing and military aid, while state security forces and state-backed militia groups have been implicated in severe human rights abuses. The conflict has crippled health and education systems in parts of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened health and socio- economic hardships. Over 1.4 million Burkinabe (6.5%) were internally displaced and 2.9 million faced food insecurity as of late 2021, according to U.N. data. Background. Burkina Faso has a history of military intervention in politics and social unrest. Kabor's election in 2015 capped a political transition after mass protests, backed by some military commanders, ousted semi- authoritarian President Blaise Compaord. A towering figure in West African politics, Compaord had come to power in a 1987 coup; his attempt to evade term limits again by changing the constitution sparked the protests that unseated him. A counter-coup by Compaord loyalists nearly derailed the civilian-led transition, but protesters and conventional army units induced the coup leaders to stand down. Terrorism and Insurgency Burkina Faso enjoyed relative peace and stability prior to 2016, when an Islamist insurgency known as Ansarul Islam emerged in the rural north and regional Al Qaeda affiliates claimed a large attack in Ouagadougou that killed 30 people, including an American. These events coincided with the southward spread of conflicts in Mali. Figure I. Burkina Faso at a Glance Source: CIA World Factbook, IMF; 2021 figures unless noted. Attacks escalated in 2017 after a faction of Algerian-origin Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) merged with a regional offshoot and two Mali-based groups to form the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (aka JNIM). In 2018, JNIM clamed a complex assault on the military's headquarters and the French embassy in Ouagadougou. Burkina Faso's northern and eastern regions have been most affected by conflict, with signs of spillover into the countries of coastal West Africa. Local security forces and civilians have been the primary victims. In the north, Ansarul Islam and JNIM have exploited ethnic tensions and perceptions of state neglect, as well as grievances over corruption, patronage politics, social stratification, and land disputes. Eastern Burkina Faso is a stronghold of the Islamic State-Greater Sahara (IS-GS), a former AQIM splinter faction that has reportedly cultivated ties with local criminal networks. IS-GS notably claimed the 2017 deadly ambush of U.S. troops in neighboring Niger. U.N. sanctions investigators report that IS-GS has some ties to Nigeria- based IS-West Africa but remains distinct. Several factors may explain why violence has spread so quickly in Burkina Faso despite a history of religious and ethnic coexistence. Compaord's ouster in 2014 and the transitional government's decision to dissolve his elite presidential guard unit (aka the RSP) arguably disrupted the state security apparatus, which in any case had little combat experience. Mali-based insurgents appear to have lent support to Burkinabe allies, and have long threatened to attack countries, such as Burkina Faso, that have deployed U.N. peacekeeping troops to Mali. Minority Christian dominance of the civil service and political class reportedly spurred tensions as well.

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