African Union suspends Burkina Faso after coup last week

The African Union has announced in a tweet that it has suspended Burkina Faso until constitutional order is restored in the West African country

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso -- The African Union has suspended Burkina Faso until constitutional order is restored in the West African country, the organization announced in a tweet on Monday.

The suspension of Burkina Faso comes a week after mutinous soldiers ousted democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore in a coup, citing his inability to stem jihadi violence.

The 15-nation West African group ECOWAS had already suspended Burkina Faso last week, making it the third nation in the regional bloc — after Mali and Guinea — to be punished for military takeovers in a year and a half. The suspensions mean the countries cannot participate in any meetings or decision-making, officials said.

While no sanctions have been imposed on Burkina Faso, a joint delegation with ECOWAS and the head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, arrived in the capital, Ouagadougou, Monday to assess the situation, according to the U.N.