JUST IN: ECOWAS suspends Burkina Faso following coup

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended conflict-hit Burkina Faso following a coup, but for now, will not impose other sanctions.

After an extraordinary meeting on Friday, ECOWAS is also calling on the new junta in Burkina Faso to release ousted president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore and other officials detained during Monday’s coup.

It is understood that the bloc would hold another summit in Accra, Ghana on February 3.

Recall the 15-member ECOWAS regional bloc had suspended and imposed sanctions on Burkina Faso’s neighbours Mali and Guinea following coups in August 2020 and September 2021, respectively.

The coup makers in Burkina Faso, who call themselves the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), have detained Kabore, accusing him of failing to contain a worsening security crisis that has seen fighters linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) assert control in parts of the country.

Kabore was elected in 2015 following a popular revolt that forced out longtime ruler Blaise Compaore. He was re-elected in 2020, but the following year faced a wave of anger over the mounting toll from an increasingly bloody conflict that has spilled over from neighbouring Mali.