Consider the following statements : Statement-I : There is instability and worsening security situation in the Sahel region. Statement-II : There have been military takeovers/coups d'état in several countries of the Sahel region in the recent past. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements ?

States a broad pattern that most of the world's armed conflicts now occur in sub‑Saharan Africa, highlighting the region as a present locus of conflict.

A student could map the Sahel within sub‑Saharan Africa and compare recent conflict incidence/time‑series or news reports for Sahel countries to judge if the regional share of conflict has risen.

Documents repeated severe droughts and environmental degradation in the Sahel, including major droughts in the 1990s that caused starvation and land pressure.

One can link these recurrent environmental shocks to possible drivers of instability by checking whether drought/famine years coincide with spikes in displacement, protests, or local violence in Sahel countries.

Notes very frequent famine years across the Sahel countries, indicating chronic humanitarian stress that can exacerbate social and political tensions.

A student could compare humanitarian indicators (famine, malnutrition, displacement) over time with security indicators (conflict events, refugee flows) for Sahel states to assess correlation.

Identifies ENSO/drought linkages contributing to widespread droughts in the Sahel—showing a climatic pattern that can produce recurrent shocks.

Combine this climatic vulnerability with recent climate records and reports of social unrest to evaluate whether climate‑driven stress plausibly contributed to worsening security.

States that low human development often coexists with political turmoil, civil war, famine or high disease incidence, a general rule linking deprivation to instability.

A student could check human development trends for Sahel countries and see if declines or persistently low HDI levels align with increased instability indicators.

Lists countries in the Sahel/affected-by-desertification region, explicitly naming Mali, Mauritania, and Chad.

A student could take these named Sahel countries (Mali, Mauritania, Chad) and check current affairs sources for reports of recent military takeovers in those states.

Names Mali and Burkina Faso among countries on the prime meridian — identifying Burkina Faso as a country geographically in the Sahel/Mali neighborhood.

Use Burkina Faso as another Sahel country to investigate news reports about coups or military takeovers in recent years.

States a general rule/pattern that many newly independent countries faced internal military conflict and the prospect of military takeovers.

Apply this general pattern to Sahel countries (many of which are post-colonial states) to form a plausible hypothesis that some have experienced coups and then verify with contemporary records.

Provides a concrete example of a military coup (Pakistan 1999), illustrating the type of event being asked about.

Use this example as a model of what to look for in Sahel country histories (e.g., military leaders overthrowing elected governments) when searching recent records.

Gives multiple historical examples of countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal) experiencing both civilian and military rule, reinforcing that coups occur in developing-region contexts.

Treat this as further pattern evidence to check whether Sahel states fit the same pattern of intermittent military takeovers in their recent histories.

Desertification and recurrent drought in the Sahel create resource stress that can exacerbate competition, displacement and local grievances.

A student could map where environmental stress is worst in the Sahel and then check whether areas with coups or weak governments overlap with spikes in violence or population movement.

Climate variability (ENSO) is linked to widespread Sahel droughts, indicating environmental shocks are a recurring driver of instability.

Combine ENSO/drought years with timelines of political disruptions in Sahel states to see if environmental shocks precede or correlate with security deterioration after coups.

Sub‑Saharan Africa hosts many of the world’s armed conflicts and associated migration, implying regional patterns of instability that could interact with internal political change.

Use regional conflict and displacement data (standard sources/maps) to test whether post‑coup periods in Sahel countries show increased conflict intensity or refugee flows compared with stable periods.

Newly independent countries face internal military conflict risks; military actors have historically been a domestic security factor.

Apply this general rule to Sahel states: examine whether military takeovers disrupted institutions (security forces, governance) in ways that could allow insurgents or criminal groups to expand.

The snippet shows that coups and alternating civilian/military rule are a recognized pattern in regional politics, suggesting military rule can be an explanatory variable for instability.

A student can list Sahel governments with recent coups and compare security indicators (attacks, territory loss, humanitarian crises) before and after each takeover to assess contribution to worsening security.