Gaskindé, Soum province, in the [nord du pays et à la limite sud du] Sahel. This is a locality whose name will henceforth resonate as one of the worst horrors of terrorism in Burkina. There was Inata [attaque survenue le 14 novembre 2021 avec plusieurs dizaines de morts parmi les membres de la gendarmerie burkinabè]Solhan [dans la nuit du 4 au 5 juin 2021 dans la province du Yagha, dans le nord-est du pays]Seytenga [attaque de l’État islamique au Grand Sahara contre l’armée burkinabè, le 9 juin 2022, dans la province du Séno]Solenza [incendie du haut-commissariat le 4 septembre 2022 par des “hommes armés”]to name a few, there is now Gaskindé which has just been the scene of a holocaust whose shock wave has affected the entire nation.
Carnage and gruesome counts
Indeed, on Monday, September 26, 2022, a supply convoy under military escort in the direction of Djibo fell into a terrorist ambush of incredible violence, as evidenced by certain videos which quickly made the rounds of social networks. Empty trucks, their cargo on fire, bodies lying on the ground, this is the sad spectacle offered by the scene of carnage.
According to several testimonies, more than a hundred trucks were caught in the deadly trap set by armed terrorist groups, who took control of this road so vital for the populations of the Sahel, particularly that of Djibo.
After the press release from the General Staff of the Armed Forces, which mentions “human and material damage” without providing exact figures, several sources began to shower us with assessments, some more catastrophic than others: 80, 100 people killed – or even more –, soldiers and civilians alike.
Macabre counts that are far from those given by the government spokesman who mentioned him, twenty-four hours after the tragedy, “11 bodies of soldiers found, 28 wounded and about fifty civilians missing”.
What complicities?
To what balance to dedicate? It is difficult to get a clear idea of the extent of this massacre as the military and political authorities seem for the moment to maintain a certain omerta on this affair which is the first big blow to the new power.
Waiting to know more certainly during the press conference tomorrow, Friday [30 septembre]announced by the Minister Delegate for Defence, General Silas Keïta, many questions are tormenting people’s minds.
The first of these comes from the statement by the same minister who refers to “unfortunate accomplices who delivered the convoy to the mercy of these lawless men”.
So, General, if there were complicities as you say, where did they come from? Soldiers from the 14e inter-arms regiment escorting the convoy? Civilians going to Djibo? If it is an intelligence with the enemy which is really at the origin of this deluge of fire and blood, that all the responsibilities are located and that one draws the necessary consequences from it.
Troubling questions
The other question, and not the least important, comes from the testimony of a survivor interviewed by our colleagues from VOAwhich clearly indicates that the helicopter protecting the convoy turned back without having given the slightest warning.
If this revelation is true, why did this combat aircraft abandon its mission at such a crucial time? Couldn’t he, in the crush, distinguish between terrorists and “friends”, to use military jargon, or was he simply out of fuel, as he writes? The confidential mail on the front page of its latest publication?
There was also talk of “pee breaks”, not to say “prayer breaks” throughout the journey. Considering the risks on this axis of death and the importance of the particularly long convoy, was it appropriate to mark stops to sacrifice to religious obligations that one could catch up once at destination? Why did the soldiers who were in charge of the security of the convoy and the passengers authorize these “prayer breaks”, knowing that these are moments conducive to an attack?
So many questions which can offend any form of sensitivity but which deserve to be asked with regard to the seriousness of the events.