OUAGADOUGOU, 02 February 2022, (TON): The January 23 coup in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou continues a recent trend in West Africa of soldiers mutinying against their leaders over governance-related grievances.

The international condemnation of the coup is providing an opportunity for Russia to gain influence in Burkina Faso, which seeks military support to combat jihadists, but without strings attached to human rights promotion.

Possible Russian collaboration with the new military leaders in Burkina Faso would follow growing Russian military influence in other West African countries, such as neighboring Mali and Central African Republic (CAR).

Although the coup was purportedly intended to increase Burkina Faso’s ability to combat jihadists, the lack of a viable counterinsurgency strategy casts serious doubt on whether the coup will achieve any of its purported goals.

On January 23, another coup rocked West Africa when soldiers in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, detained President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré at a military base and took control over the areas surrounding the president’s residence, the main radio station, and other facilities.