Key dates since 1980 in the coup-prone west African state of Gambia, where the latest bid took place on Tuesday in the absence of President Yahya Jammeh, who was on a visit abroad:
- July 30, 1981: President Dawda Jawara is overthrown in a coup. The rebellion is brought to an end a week later when the Senegalese army intervenes, and Jawara is reinstated. More than 500 are killed and 2,000 arrested. The mastermind of the coup, Kukoi Samba Sanyang, takes refuge abroad.
- January 26, 1988: Announcement of the arrest of 20 people accused of preparing a plot on behalf of Libya, which Banjul accuses of training young Gambians, to overthrow the government.
- July 22, 1994: Jammeh, aged 29, leads a group of young army officers in the bloodless overthrow of Jawara and bans political activity.
- November 11: The military regime is faced with an attempted coup. Clashes between the two groups in the capital leave around 40 dead.
- January 27, 1995: The authorities say they have foiled a new attempted coup. The vice president and the interior minister are arrested, accused of seeking to overthrow Jammeh.
- January 15, 2000: Authorities say they have thwarted an attempted coup. President Jammeh says the failed putschists had planned attacks on the radio station and the airport.
- March 22, 2006: The presidency announces it has foiled an attempted coup, many army officials are arrested and the coup leader, former army chief Ndure Cham, flees to Senegal.
- October 19, 2012: The Supreme Court upholds the death sentences passed on seven military and security top brass for plotting a coup in 2009, including former army and intelligence chiefs and the ex-deputy police chief.
- December 30, 2014: Gambian soldiers launch a coup bid while Jammeh is abroad, but it appears to have been foiled. A military source says three alleged coup plotters have been killed.