Military coups have been a regular occurrence in Africa in the decades since independence and there is now concern they are becoming more frequent.

Sudan has this year experienced two such events, one in September which failed and the latest in which Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan dissolved the civilian arm of a transitional government and took over.

In Guinea, President Condé was ousted by the army in September and in neighbouring Mali there have been two interventions by the army in less than a year, the most recent one in May.

In Niger, a coup was thwarted in March just days before a presidential inauguration.

So are military interventions occurring more often on the continent?

On the 6th June the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) militant group said in an audio recording heard by Reuters on Sunday that Abubakar Shekau, leader of rival Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, was dead.

Shekau died around May 18 after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle, a person purporting to be ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said on the audio recording "Abubakar Shekau, God has judged him by sending him to heaven," he can be heard saying.

Two people familiar with al-Barnawi told Reuters the voice on the recording was that of the ISWAP leader.  A Nigerian intelligence report shared by a government official and Boko Haram researchers have also said Shekau is dead.