Two jihadist attacks causing bloodshed Burkina

The attack was quick. A raid on a humanitarian convoy which supplied Barsalogho, a small town in northern Burkina Faso, become, in a few months, a huge camp where a crowd of some 300 000 refugees. In full after-noon of Saturday, the jihadists had opened fire on the caravan, killing seven gendarmes of the escort, and six civilians. Some of these latter were armed and members of the Volunteers for the fatherland. A balance sheet without a doubt interim, six other soldiers are missing, according to the governor of the province.

see also : Undermined by jihadism, Burkina Faso is threatened.

The same morning, this time in the east of the country, another killing had been attributed to islamist groups that operate in the country. The clients of the cattle market of Kompeinbiga fell in a shootout. Armed men "arrived on motorcycles and started shooting, especially on the people who tried to flee," said a witness to the AFP. Other attackers reportedly, during this time, pillaged the merchants. The number of deaths remains difficult to establish, and will probably remain for a long time, as often in Burkina Faso. "They are mounted in probably several dozen," says a local official.

This upsurge of violence, that the press in burkina faso has called a "weekend black", has aroused a shock. "This should not. In reality, the jihadists operating in these two areas for years. What has surprised is that there have been civilian deaths, which was no longer the case in the last month," says Mahamoudou Kimsey, a specialist in armed groups in the Sahel. A sort of return to "normal", 2019 was the year the bloodiest for the country. After the Armed Conflict location and Event data project (Acled), nearly 1 300 civilians had died. The country also has nearly 900 000 displaced persons.

"submit or die"

To a military analyst, these two attacks show especially the extent of the influence the jihadist on the Burkina faso, which has only increased since the beginning of the year. "The context is quite particular, since the early months of 2020 has been marked by the clash between islamist factions", he says. The Group of support to islam and muslims (GSIM), linked to al-Qaeda, has largely driven out of the north of the country, its rival, the islamic State in the Grand Sahara (SAES). The GSIM, via its local subsidiary Ansarul islam, is now the sole master of the province of Soum. The defence forces and security (FDS), as the army in burkina faso, do not visit it virtually, all the military camps or almost have been deserted. "We have no choice. It was necessary for us to submit to the islamists, who have put roadblocks on the roads, or die. And if you do, you risk to be killed later by the soldiers who see you as an accomplice," said a villager desperate, who has finally decided to flee the province last fall. The northern area of the Soum is now almost totally deserted by its inhabitants. Djibo, the chief town, is literally besieged. The road, which connects the city to Ouagadougou, the capital, is regularly trapped, and cars are attacked. "Without the support of Barkhane, Djibo would have already fallen," says the analyst.

To the east, the jihadists also control largely the field. The vast military operation, launched in march 2019 by the FDS to drive out the jihadists in this region, is no longer just a memory. "The militia went into hiding and came back as soon as the soldiers left," says a security source local. In this part of the country also, the fight between the SAES, again close now to the east, and the GSIM, contributes to further degrade the situation. The GSIM, which has four locations would be strengthening. "It is very possible that the latest killings are related to the willingness of groups to appropriate the mining sites or of the lucrative markets at the expense of the other", continues the source safe.

For Mahamoudou Kimsey, civilian casualties are also at the growing confusion between militia and citizens. The decision, passed by the national Assembly in January 2020, to create the Volunteer corps for the defence of the homeland, armed civilians, has increased the phenomenon. These, often poorly trained, would be the origin of many abuses. "They are also mainly recruited from among the ethnic group mossi, and this has also exacerbated the rivalries between clan-based," says the researcher, for which there is an urgent need to "dissolve this body." "This is by reinforcing the regular army that we will have a chance to win this war," he says.

The editorial team conseilleLa rivalry between al-Qaida and the AR sets the SahelAu Burkina Faso, and massacres are enchaînentMiné by jihadism, Burkina Faso threatens to effondrerSujetInfographie4 commentairesMeyerbeerle 02/06/2020 20:48

What are old antagonisms between farmers and the nomadic pastoralists. The Bambara and Mossi on one side, the sedentary and the Fulani, which have in part chosen islamist terrorism under two or three labels, Daech, Al Qahida, Group sahara of preaching. This terrorism is agree to traffic various, migrants, cocaine, etc, A way for the Fulani to earn a bit of money because the demographic pressure of their farm little by little of the traditional paths.

Ricercar38le 02/06/2020 20:38

Provided that Macron doesn't turn head to go and play the vigilantes out there.

baz-chosesle 02/06/2020 20:36

The islamist rot of the country once in peace.

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