West African Crisis At The Hands Of The Islamic State
Written originally by Jack Kerley 1 Feb. 2022
The Jan. 24 coup in Burkina Faso has shined new light on the situation in West Africa and the struggle against Islamic State terrorism in the region.
A previously unknown group of soldiers called the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) has successfully deposed Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore amid an uncontrolled surge of IS attacks.
The groups leader, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, lead the coup that started in the nations capital, Ouagadougou, when heavy gunfire erupted Jan. 23.
The government initially denied the rumours of a coup but come Monday Jan. 24, Kabore had been removed, DW reported.
MPSR spokesman Captain Sidsore Kader Ouedraogo announced on Radio Television du Burkina, the national broadcaster, that the coup was successful, the military had taken over and Damiba was in charge, Al Jazeera reported.
“MPSR, which includes all sections of the army, has decided to end President Kabore’s post today,” Ouedraogo said, claiming that the coup was carried out without violence and those detained are in secure locations, Al Jazeera reported
Burkina Faso joins Mali and Guinea in the list of nations who’ve had their governments overthrown within the last 18 months in West Africa, Foreign Policy reported.
Conflicting reports about the ex-presidents whereabouts have come out with some saying MPSR detained him however, forces loyal to Kabore claim they’ve taken him to a secure location, according to Al Jazeera.
What Caused The Coup:
The 2022 Burkina Faso coup occurred due to the rise in attacks from the Islamic State of the Greater Sahara (ISGS), a group that formed in 2015, and the failure of Kabore to control said group, according to Damiba’s first address as leader on Friday.
Burkina Faso, along with a large swathe of the central Sahel region of West Africa, have been dealing with insurgency by Islamic jihadists since at least 2012 resulting in the French entering Mali to intervene in 2013, Reuters reported.
The French have attempted to resolve the issue, with the New York Times calling it Frances forever war, which they claim has killed more than 10,000 people in West Africa and forcing over a million people to flee their homes.
Mali is not the only state within the Sahel region to have suffered at the hands of ISGS.
Due to ISGS and the Sahel conflict, Central Sahel has seen a tenfold increase in Internally Displaced Persons since 2013 resulting in over 2.5 million people having to flee their homes in the last decade, according to the UNHCR.
“From 217,000 to a staggering 2.1 million by late 2021. The number of refugees in the Central Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, now stands at 410,000,” said the UNHCR.
800 attacks across the Sahel region saw the displacement of almost 500,000 people in 2021 alone, according to the UNHCR report.
Burkina Faso, alone, saw 1.5 million IDP’s, with around 60% of all IDP’s in the region being Burkinabe, said the report.
On top of the sheer number of IDP’s, the take over by insurgents has seen over 1,000 schools close as the threat closed in on Ouagadougou, according to the BBC.
Public outcry reached a precipice in November 2021 when a jihadist attack killed 49 Burkinabe soldiers and news broke that security forces had been without rations for two weeks, Foreign Policy reported.
Outcry reached this point because Kabore promised, after his re-election, that he would fight the insurgency problem and quell it permanently, according to Foreign Policy.
During his time as leader, Kabore doubled military spending from the 1.38% of GDP spent in 2016 to 2.73% of GDP in 2020 and even with American equipment and training, Kabore failed to stop the insurgency, Foreign Policy reported.
Damiba has made the promise, stating that he will recapture the rural areas dominated by jihadists allowing the 1.5 million displaced people to return to their homes, the BBC reported.
Damiba also promised that, when the conditions are right, he will restore the constitution completely, “I commit to a return to a normal constitutional order,” Damiba said.
As of Feb. 1, Damiba has restored the constitution and taken the position as interim president, Al Jazeera reported.
Public Opinion:
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) widely condemned the coup by Damiba and the MPSR, the BBC reported.
ECOWAS, as they’d done to Mali and Guinea in the 18 months prior, threatened and eventually imposed sanctions to ensure constitutional order would be restored, the BBC reported.
The United Nations, African Union, United States and France all followed by condemning the coup with some calling it a power grab, Al Jazeera reported.
Domestically, the coup appeared to be extremely popular with hundreds of people gathering in Ouagadougou to show support for Damiba and MPSR’s take over, Al Jazeera reported.
“It’s the liberation of a country, which was being governed by people who were incompetent,” one supporter said to French international news outlet, Agence France-Presse.
“We called for President Kabore’s departure several times, but he didn’t listen to us. The army heard us and understood,” another told AFP.
Some civil society organisations urged ECOWAS not to impose sanctions upon the military junta, Africa News reported.
“We are not going to let them do it to us. We are not going to let Burkina Faso fall prey to imperialist powers once again. We are clear on this,” said head of the Coalition of African Patriots of Burkina Faso, Roland Bayala, one of the groups demanding sanctions be withheld.
Burkinabe opposition leader Adama Coulibaly believes that an uprising was inevitable saying that “change was absolutely necessary,” Africa News reported.
Coulibaly believes that, due to the presence of foreign forces in the area to “reduce terrorism,” there is a possibility of further destabilisation in the area.
Relations between the French and the Sahel area have been souring, and due to the persistent threat of Islamic terror, some believe that the area may turn to Russia to fill the gap left behind should the French depart. Mali has already done so, the BBC reported.