Gambia, 2022 — military coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 20 December 2022, corresponding to the 2022 Gambian coup attempt against President Adama Barrow. On 20 December 2022 some soldiers of the Gambian army were reported to have attempted to overthrow the government, and four soldiers were arrested in a swift military operation while three other alleged accomplices were pursued. The government announced the foiled plot the next day, saying intelligence reports had shown soldiers plotting to overthrow the democratically elected government.
The coup leader was later named as Lance Corporal Sanna Fadera, and charges were ultimately brought against eight soldiers, two civilians, and a police officer. The attempt came amid a wider wave of coups in West Africa and frustration over Barrow's slow progress since the fall of longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh, with analysts pointing to a lack of security-sector reform; some observers questioned the plot's authenticity. The 20 December 2022 coding matches the coup attempt.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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:
- Cline Center id
42012202022
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Barrow's government foiled the plot and arrested soldiers and civilians.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Agence France Presse
The Times
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 →