- Fall of Compaore -

Compaore took power in a 1987 coup and cemented his position four years later by securing the first of four election victories. But his 2010 triumph was contested, as was his attempt to amend the constitution and extend his rule. After being forced from power by street protests in 2014 he took refuge in Ivory Coast and on November 29, 2015, former prime minister and national assembly president Roch Marc Christian Kabore was elected his successor.

- Jihadist attacks -

From 2015, the north of the country, the capital Ouagadougou and the east began to suffer regular kidnappings and attacks by jihadist groups affiliated to the Al-Qaeda or Islamic State groups.

On January 15, 2016, an attack on the Splendid hotel and a restaurant in Ouagadougou left 30 dead, most of them Westerners. The first attack on that scale in the country was a major shock.

In November 2017, the French-backed G5 anti-jihadist force started joint cross-border operations in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

- Attacks intensify, Kabore re-elected-

On March 2, 2018, simultaneous attacks targeted French forces and the former colonial power's embassy, leaving eight soldiers dead and 85 people injured.

The end of that year saw a state of emergency declared in several provinces.

From 2019, the attacks became almost daily, prompting the sacking of the head of the armed forces and formation of a new government.

On December 24, 42 people were killed in an attack by 200 jihadists on a military base in Arbinda, near the border with Mali.

Kabore was re-elected on November 22, 2020, but ongoing insecurity meant hundreds of thousands of people were unable to cast ballots.

The opposition accused Kabore of election fraud and refused to recognise the result.

- Growing civil unrest -

Between 132 and 160 people were killed in a June 2021 attack on the northeastern village of Solhan in the worst attack in six years.

The killings sparked demonstrations against insecurity and the ministers of defence and security were both fired.

On August 18, an attack in the north left 65 civilians and 15 police dead.

In October the president replaced the military chief of staff. The trial also began into the killing 34 years earlier of former president Thomas Sankara. Compaore, the main accused, was not present.

On November 14, at least 57 people, 53 of them gendarmes, were massacred in an assault on a police station at Inata in the north, sparking further protests.

Burkinabe and Niger military said they had eliminated around 100 "terrorists" during an operation on their common border between November 25 and December 9.

- New government but peace elusive -

December 8 last year saw the prime minister resign and hand over the reins to Lassina Zerbo, who urged national unity.

On December 23, 41 people were killed in yet another jihadist attack in the north.

The past month has seen a further spate of attacks and rumblings of discontent in the ranks of the armed forces echoing those in the wider population.

On January 22, police in Ouagadougou clashed with demonstrators at a banned protest over the government's handling of the jihadist threat.

On Sunday, soldiers at several army barracks staged a revolt but the government denied a coup was underway.