In the wake of Mali and Niger, the country is caught in a spiral of violence attributed to movements affiliated with Al-Qaida and the EI. The attack on Sunday is the sixth in ten days.
Le Monde with AFP
Burkina Faso has been experiencing a revival of violence due to alleged jihadist groups. In the east of the country, at least 12 soldiers were killed in an attack on Sunday, March 20th.
“This Sunday, armed elements attacked a unit around Natiaboani. The balance sheet, always temporary, is twelve fallen soldiers,” said France-Presse Agency (AFP) a safe source. “This is a patrol and security team that has been taken over by alleged jihadists,” said AFP another safe source. “Several elements have also been neutralized enemy side,” he said, without more details.
Spiral of violence
Natiaboani is a rural commune located about sixty kilometers south of Fada N’Gourma, capital of the Eastern Region, regularly targeted by armed group attacks since 2018. According to the agency. Information from Burkina, about fifteen young people were kidnapped by armed individuals at the end of an attack, in Nagré, near Natiaboani, Friday.
In ten days, it is the sixth attack, in the North and East of Burkina Faso. In total, they resulted in the death of twenty-three civilians and twenty-five soldiers (gendarmes and soldiers).
On January 24, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré often accused of being ineffective in the face of jihadist violence. But after a relative accalmia, the new head of state, which has made the anti-jihadist struggle a priority, finds itself confronted with deadly attacks.
In the wake of Mali and Niger, Burkina Faso has been taken since 2015 in a spiral of violence attributed to movements affiliated with Al-Qaida and the Islamic State Organization, which have made more than 2,000 deaths in The country and forces at least 1.7 million people to flee their homes