14 of 14 events · 1985 – 2024
Sovereign state in Africa
14 December 1985 – 30 December 1985
The Agacher Strip War (French: Guerre de la Bande d’Agacher), also known as the Christmas War (French: Guerre de Noël), was a brief conflict fought by Burkina Faso and Mali over a 160-kilometre-long (100 mi) strip of land along the border in northern Burkina Faso from 25 to 30 December 1985. The war ended in a ceasefire.
15 October 1987
The 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état was a violent military coup in Burkina Faso, which took place on 15 October 1987. The coup was organized by Captain Blaise Compaoré against incumbent far-left President Captain Thomas Sankara, his former friend, bandmate, and associate during the 1983 upheaval.
January 2009 – 2010
The 2009–2010 West African meningitis outbreak was an epidemic of bacterial meningitis which occurred in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria since January 2009, an annual risk in the African meningitis belt. A total of 13,516 people have been infected with meningitis, and 931 have died.
2014
The 2014 Burkina Faso uprising was a series of demonstrations and riots in Burkina Faso in October 2014 that quickly spread to multiple cities. They began in response to attempts at changing the constitution to allow President Blaise Compaoré to run again and extend his 27 years in office.
23 August 2015
Since August 2015, an insurgency has been fought between the government of Burkina Faso and Islamist militant groups, including Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), Ansarul Islam and the Islamic State – Sahel Province (IS–SP). It is estimated that 30% of the country is controlled by jihadist forces.
16 January 2016
On 15 January 2016, gunmen armed with heavy weapons attacked the Cappuccino restaurant and the Splendid Hotel in the heart of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. At least 30 people were killed, and 56 wounded; a total of 176 hostages were released after a government counter-attack into the next morning as the siege ended.
13 August 2017
Nineteen people were killed and 25 others were injured when suspected jihadists opened fire on a Turkish restaurant and hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 13 August 2017. Police cornered the attackers, who took hostages and then were killed in an ensuing shootout.
2 March 2018
On 2 March 2018, at least eight heavily armed militants launched an assault on key locations throughout Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. Targets included the French embassy and the headquarters of Burkina Faso's military.
24 December 2019
On December 24, 2019, militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked the Burkinabe government military base in Arbinda, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso along with the town of Arbinda itself. The attack was halted due to French and Burkinabe air intervention, although 35 civilians were killed in the jihadists' massacre.
August 2020 – September 2020
In all of 2020, flooding affected 2.7 million people in 18 countries in West and Central Africa and destroyed 197,000 houses, with many regions recording excess rainfalls. The number of flood-affected people this year was more than twice the case in 2019.
4 June 2021 – 5 June 2021
On 4 and 5 June 2021, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) attacked the village of Solhan, Yagha Province, Burkina Faso. At least 160 people were killed in the massacres, making it the deadliest attacks up to that point in the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso since the start of the war in 2015.
23 January 2022 – 24 January 2022
A coup d'état was launched in Burkina Faso on 24 January 2022. Gunfire erupted in front of the presidential residence in the Burkinabé capital Ouagadougou and several military barracks around the city.
30 September 2022
A coup d'état took place in Burkina Faso on 30 September 2022, removing Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba over his alleged inability to deal with the country's Islamist insurgency. Damiba had come to power in a coup d'état eight months earlier.
24 August 2024
On 24 August 2024, jihadists from Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) killed between 200 and 600 civilians digging trenches for the Burkinabe government around the town of Barsalogho, Sanmatenga Province, Burkina Faso. The massacre is the deadliest in Burkinabe history, and the deadliest attack in the Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso.