BURKINA FASO
The New Fissure of Terror
The families of American diplomats were ordered out of Burkina Faso recently.
“There is no specific threat that prompted this decision, rather this reconfiguration of the US Embassy staffing profile will enable refocused operations to assist Burkina Faso in its struggle against violent extremist organizations,” the US Embassy in Ouagadougou said in a statement.
The US State Department also recently issued a “do not travel” advisory for the West African country, citing terrorism, crime and kidnapping.
As CNN explained, “terrorist networks operate with impunity” in Burkina Faso, “targeting public places of gathering, including hotels, restaurants.” Around 500,000 people have fled the country because of violence. The International Red Cross can’t send aid workers to certain regions because they are too dangerous. Thousands of schools have closed.
“Burkina Faso has replaced Mali at the epicenter of the Sahel’s security crisis,” said a headline in Quartz.
Indeed, much of the chaos that international forces have sought to end in Mali has become commonplace in neighboring Burkina Faso.
On Sunday, more than a dozen people were killed after gunmen opened fire at a church service in Hantoukoura, in the east, the BBC reported. Last month, gunmen killed 39 people in a convoy of Canadian mining company workers. It was not the first instance of the company encountering armed predators, the New York Times reported, noting that militants had killed at least 26 military personnel and injured 25 others between August and September. Those militants could be Islamic State members or criminals acting out local grudges.
Whatever their ideologies, the attackers often have few scruples. More than a dozen worshippers died in mid-October after armed men stormed a mosque in the northern city of Salmossi near the Malian border, Al Jazeera reported.
France has invested heavily in stability in the Sahel, the core of much of its erstwhile West African empire. The European country has 4,500 troops in Chad, Mali and Niger.
The endeavor has come at a cost. In late November, 13 French soldiers died when their helicopters collided as they hunted Islamist militants in Mali, Reuters reported. In May, two French soldiers died in a successful mission to free American and South Korean hostages in Burkina Faso. Last year, militants attacked the French embassy and the Burkina Faso military’s headquarters in Ouagadougou, killing eight and injuring 80.
Recently French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would deploy forces to Burkina Faso at the request of local officials, according to Al Jazeera. Burkina Faso gained independence from France in 1960. Now, the former colonial power is working closely with local forces to prevent jihadists from taking over, the Defense Post reported.
This Euronews story provides context as to why leaders in Paris are determined to spend resources in the region, including fears of a new safe haven for terrorists and of jihadism spreading north. Reuters also detailed a harrowing connection between the Islamic State and gold mining in this region of Africa.
In late 2019, a new front in the war on terror has opened.
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