Benin is the latest African country to experience a coup. Here is a look at other military takeovers

LAGOS Nigeria AP Benin has joined a growing list of African countries where military officers have seized power since In a familiar scene across West Africa a group of soldiers appeared on Benin s state TV on Sunday announcing the removal of President Patrice Talon and the dissolution of the administration following the swift takeover of power Talon in power since was due to step down next April after the presidential voting The condition of the president was not this instant clear Wilfried Houngbedji the spokesperson for the Benin Ruling body communicated The Associated Press that everything is fine without expanding The group of soldiers which called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation stated Lt Col Pascal Tigri as president of the military committee in Benin Here is a timeline of coups in Africa following a pattern of disputed elections constitutional upheaval safeguard crises and youth discontent August and May Since August Mali has witnessed two back-to-back coups A group of soldiers mutinied and arrested senior military officers just outside the capital Bamako after weeks of protests by civilians demanding the then-president Ibrahim Ke ta resign over accusations of corruption and failing to clamp down on armed groups Col Assimi Goita the military leader entered into a power-sharing deal with Bah Ndaw a civilian president with Goita serving as the vice president of a so-called transitional cabinet In Goita overthrew Ndaw following a series of disagreements and installed himself as president He postponed an balloting slated for to Mali is one of a tripartite group of landlocked West African countries along with Burkina Faso and Niger run by military juntas that have now formed their own bloc after current from the Economic District of West African states and have firmly stated their objections to a return to democracy April Following his father s death in Mahamat Idris Deby an army general expeditiously seized power extending his family s three-decade rule of the central African nation Three years later he delivered an voting process that he promised when he assumed power Deby was declared the winner of the balloting which the opposition claimed was rigged He has since clamped down on critics Former Prime Minister Succes Masra an opposition figure was sentenced to years in prison earlier this year September After years in office Alpha Conde was removed by a group of soldiers led by Mamady Doumbouya In Conde had changed the constitution to allow himself to stand for a third term Doumbouya is running in the December polls and looking to shed his military fatigues after a referendum this year allowed junta members to stand in elections and extended the presidential term limit from five to seven years October The Sudanese military led by Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan staged a coup in October deposing Omar al-Bashir who ruled the country for years Burhan went on to share power with Muhammad Dangalo known as Hedmeti the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Assistance Forces In April a simmering feud between them led to one of the world s largest part catastrophic conflicts according to the United Nations The war is still going on January and September Like its neighbor Mali Burkina Faso also witnessed two successive coups In January Roch Kabor was ousted by Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba In September Capt Ibrahim Traor the head of an artillery unit of Burkina Faso army ousted Damiba on the same pretext as the earlier coup deteriorating shield Traor has since ruled the country In July he dissolved the independent electoral commission July Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani ousted Mohamed Bazoum ending a rare democratic transition in Niger The dramatic coup sparked a dilemma in the regional ECOWAS bloc which threatened to invade Niger if Bazoum was not installed and the country returned to democracy The emergency split the region with Niger teaming with Burkina Faso and Mali to form a breakaway Alliance of Sahel States August Shortly after President Ali Bongo who had been in power for years and had run for a third term was declared the winner of an referendum in a group of soldiers appeared on television saying they were seizing power They canceled the balloting and dissolved all state institutions Brice Oligui Nguema a cousin of Bongo took power and has since ruled Gabon He was disclosed the winner of a presidential referendum in April October Expressing their frustration over chronic water shortages and power outages young people in Madagascar took to the streets to demand former President Andry Rajoelina s resignation Rajoelina instead dissolved his ruling body and refused to resign leading to a military takeover of the southern African country November On Nov Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau followed up a disputed presidential electoral contest three days earlier by seizing power Critics including the opposition called the coup a staged takeover to avoid having the incumbent lose the referendum Incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embal and the main opposition candidate Fernando Dias both claimed to have won the Nov presidential electoral process Embal was distributed and allowed to flee to neighboring Senegal from where he has since departed The new military junta made appointments several of them allies of the deposed president Source