Burkina Faso’s president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré has invited his fellow citizen to “place themselves above the emotions” in the fight against terrorism, following the death of 24 soldiers in the attack on the Koutougou military base, located more than 200 km north of the capital, Ouagadougou.
“It is true that this is an issue that affects us emotionally. But being above emotion, important is. We must reaffirm our solidarity, our support, our accompaniment, our support to the Defence and Security Forces,” President Kaboré said in a message to the Nation yesterday Tuesday.
Far from being resigned, the Head of State asked his people to stand up for themselves because “Burkina Faso will not give up part of the territory, even if we all die there.”
According to Kaboré, fighting terrorism is a “noble struggle” and his compatriots must “put (their) patriotic fibre into it, place themselves above emotions and know that the only thing worth defending today is Burkina Faso and its people.”
Last Monday, terrorists attacked the military detachment of Koutougou, a commune in the province of Soum, in the Sahel region. According to an updated assessment, the attack left 24 Burkinabe soldiers dead, 7 wounded and 5 soldiers missing.
Roch Marc Kaboré acknowledged that the terrorist attack of August 19 is “a black task in the life of our national army.” In response, the Burkinabe army carried out operations that neutralized 40 terrorists and destroyed 20 of their motorcycles, according to military sources cited by the Burkina News Agency (AIB).
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