West Africa’s latest coup risks further eroding the security situation in northern Burkina Faso and may prompt international sanctions that would damage the country's trade-reliant economy. In a televised address on Jan. 24, members of the Burkinabe military announced they had deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore following heavy gunfire outside the presidential residence and reports that soldiers had detained the president at a military camp. In addition to ousting Kabore, military authorities suspended Burkina Faso’s constitution, dissolved the government and the National Assembly, and closed the West African country’s borders. The leader of the coup is Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who presented himself in the broadcast announcement as the president of a group calling itself the "Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration" (or MPSR, in its French-language acronym), which Damiba said includes all sections of the army. An MPSR spokesperson said the coup was necessary due to...
