Burkina Faso’s Centre-East region has been the target of an attack claimed by the Al Qaeda affiliated jihadists in the Sahel, reports said on Friday.
On Saturday November 5 in Djibo, more than 200 kilometres north of Ouagadougou, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, president of the transitional government in Burkina Faso, asked the military to be ready for the next battle against jihadist groups.
On the same day, a mixed patrol of Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) and Burkinabé soldiers was ambushed by jihadists in the locality of Soudougui, in the province of Koulpélogo (Centre-East).
This incident reported by security watch accounts on Twitter was confirmed by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) on Thursday November 10.
The jihadist group linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 14 members of the defence and security forces. AQIM’s Sahelian affiliate deplores two deaths in its ranks at the same time.
The General Staff of the Burkinabe army has not yet made a statement on this attack by Islamist insurgents near the border with Togo. The jihadist group is demonstrating that it is able to carry out attacks beyond its “comfort zone” which is the Sahel region,” said a security source contacted by APA.
To respond to the spread of the jihadist insurgency on its territory, Ouagadougou has launched a massive recruitment campaign of soldiers and VDP.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been plagued by a security crisis linked to the activity of jihadist groups affiliated to Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, resulting in several thousand casualties among defence and security forces and civilians. This insecurity has led to two coups in less than a year.
After overthrowing Roch March Christian Kaboré last January, Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba, who had promised to reverse the trend in the fight against jihadists, was in turn deposed on 30 September by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who has since been appointed president of the transition.
AC/cgd/lb/abj/APA