A series of attacks killed around thirty dead Thursday, including many volunteers from the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), army supplies.
Mo12345lemonde With AFP
Sixty-two women and four babies who had been kidnapped in northern Burkina Faso by alleged jihadists on January 12 and 13 were released on Friday January 20 by the army. Friday evening, the Burkina Radio-Television (RTB) showed images of the women freed and brought back to Ouagadougou, by evoking an “operation” of the armed forces, without giving more details.
These women and their babies had been kidnapped in the surroundings of Arbinda, in the Sahel region (north) when they had come out of their village to seek enough to eat. According to security sources, they were found in the Tougouri area, in the neighboring region of the North Center, 200 kilometers further south, before being helicoptered to the Burkinabé capital during the evening, where they were welcomed by army officials.
“hordes”
Thursday, Burkina Faso was bereaved by a series of attacks that left around thirty dead in several regions of the north and northwest of the country. There are among the victims of about fifteen volunteers from the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), army supplies, according to several security sources attached on Friday.
Burkina Faso, in particular in its northern half, has faced more and more attacks since 2015 of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaida and the Islamic State organization. They caused thousands of deaths and at least two million displaced. Captain Ibrahim Traoré, transitional president resulting from a military coup on September 30, 2022 – the second in eight months – has set himself the objective of “the reconquest of the territory occupied by these hordes of terrorists”.
disputed France
In recent months, the authorities have several times affirmed their desire to strengthen their links with Russia, especially in the fight against jihadists. France, which has a contingent of some 400 special forces in Burkina, is increasingly contested. Friday, a demonstration against the French presence, the third since October 2022, brought together several hundred people in the capital, Ouagadougou. The demonstrators in particular demand the departure of the French ambassador, Luc Hallade, and special forces.
Power also launched at the end of 2022 a campaign to recruit new auxilions to help the army. About 90,000 people would have registered. The VDPs receive for the moment a civic and military training of fourteen days before being armed and endowed with means of communication. They pay a heavy price in the attacks of the jihadists, who control 40 % of the Burkinabé territory.