WATCH | ECOWAS to hold extraordinary virtual summit on Burkina Faso coup crisis

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders will hold an emergency summit on Friday to discuss the political crisis in Burkina Faso.

This comes after the military coup in Burkina Faso on Monday which removed and detained President Roch Kabore after two days of unrest and antigovernment protests. Kabore was serving a second term as president. He was re-elected in November, with 58% of the vote.

Since gaining independence in 1960, Burkina Faso has experienced several coups. The 1980s were a particularly volatile period with the leadership changing frequently, almost every two years.

The country has also been dealing with economic instability and dire poverty over  the years and these factors have been made worse by ongoing fights against extremist groups operating in the country.