The security situation remains poor in Burkina Faso. At least three soldiers and eight civilian army auxiliaries were killed on Saturday, October 15, during an attack attributed to jihadists in the north of the country, security sources told Agence France-presse.
“An ambush by armed terrorist groups targeted a mixed patrol of soldiers and volunteers for the defense of the homeland” you VDP, army auxiliaries, “in the commune of Bouroum [nord]. The toll is three fallen soldiers and eight VDPs,” a security source told AFP. Another source from the security services confirmed, speaking of ” temporary report “.
According to this last source, “the clash took place in the locality of Silmangué, in the province of Namentenga”. The provisional toll shows a dozen dead, two injured and two missing, she added.
Military coup
This attack comes two weeks after a military coup on September 30, perpetrated by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, against Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, and the day after the appointment of Captain Traoré as president of the transition by national bases.
It was the second coup in Burkina Faso in eight months, linked to the security situation in this country, which has been plagued by jihadist violence for seven years.
On January 24, soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba, grouped in a junta called the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR), overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, accused of incapacity in the face of attacks. jihadists who have multiplied in Burkina.
” Emergency room “
They have not ceased in eight months and, faced with the constant deterioration of the situation, a new putsch took place on September 30, which brought Ibrahim Traoré to the head of the MPSR, in order to “refocus the transition on security emergencies”according to the junta.
Burkina Faso has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of violence attributed to jihadist movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. These regular attacks have claimed thousands of lives and forced some two million people to flee their homes. More than 40% of the territory escapes the control of the State, in particular on the side of the borders with Mali and Niger.