On September 28, 1995 the French mercenary Bob Denard led a small force to overthrow President Said Mohamed Djohar of the Comoros in his fourth Comorian coup, holding the president captive, before a French military intervention reversed it days later. Denard, who had dominated the Comoros through figurehead presidents from 1978 to 1989, returned with 33 hand-picked mercenaries who landed by boat at Moroni in the early hours of September 28, 1995 (an operation they called Kaskari), swiftly seizing the capital and capturing the elderly President Djohar before the small national army could react. Unlike Denard's earlier coups, the French government opposed this one and denounced him.
Djohar was held in a barracks. Within a week France launched Operation Azalee, which ended the coup and arrested Denard. The dataset dates this September 29, 1995 and codes Djohar's fate as arrested or jailed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Said Mohamed Djohar, overthrown and held captive by Bob Denard's mercenaries on September 28, 1995; the dataset codes his fate as arrested or jailed, reflecting his captivity, and he was later freed by the French intervention.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Said Mohamed Djohar (president overthrown and held captive)
Bob Denard (French mercenary who led the coup)
Sources
Denard's fourth Comorian coup, which he called Operation Kaskari, occurred in the early hours of 28 September 1995 when Denard and 33 hand-picked mercenaries docked their ship Vulcain at Moroni harbour and descended on the city, forcibly removing the figures of the official government before the ill-equipped army was aware.
On 28 September 1995 President Said Mohamed Djohar was overthrown by Bob Denard, who returned to the country with a force of 33 hand-picked mercenaries, in what was the last coup staged with Denard's involvement, and the coup resulted in the French military intervention Operation Azalee days later.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of Comorian coups d'etatopen source ↗
On the night of 27 September 1995 Denard launched a fourth coup, Operation Kaskari, landing on the Comoros with 33 men in Zodiac inflatable boats in an attempted coup against president Said Mohamed Djohar, Abdallah's successor, and unlike Denard's previous coups the French government opposed the mercenaries and denounced Denard.
President Said Mohamed Djohar was held captive in the barracks by the mercenaries, and he was later freed and flown to Reunion for medical treatment when the French intervention ended the coup, with no casualties reported.
Coding note: the dataset labels this a foreign-backed coup with an arrested-or-jailed fate, dated September 29, 1995. The foreign-backed label fits precisely: this was a coup carried out by foreign (French) mercenaries under Bob Denard against President Said Mohamed Djohar. The coded fate reflects that Djohar was captured and held (in a barracks) by the mercenaries. Date nuance: sources place the landing in the early hours of September 28, 1995 (Denard called it Operation Kaskari); the dataset's September 29 date is within a day and the timing is recorded. Who is coded deposed: President Said Mohamed Djohar. Arc link: this is the last of Bob Denard's four Comorian coups and continues the Comoros/Denard thread this enrichment has tracked, following the 1989 coup in which President Ahmed Abdallah was killed and Denard was implicated (enriched earlier); it is also the first of two linked Comoros 1995 records, its companion being the French Operation Azalee that reversed it days later. Context handled neutrally: unlike Denard's earlier coups, France opposed this one; the wider pattern of Comorian instability (over 20 coup attempts since 1975) is recorded per sources. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Said Mohamed Djohar, overthrown and held captive by Bob Denard's mercenaries on September 28, 1995; the dataset codes his fate as arrested or jailed, reflecting his captivity, and he was later freed by the French intervention..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; arrested or jailed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“World News Briefs; France Sends Troop Unit To End Coup in Comoros,” October 4, 1995
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
“Aftermath of Coup; Interview with Coup Leader Captain Kombo,” September 29, 1995
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →