Ouagadougou has launched the recruitment of 35,000 additional Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) to fight against jihadist groups.
The new authorities in Burkina Faso want to crush jihadists. In addition to the recruitment of 15,000 Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDPs) launched on Monday, October 24, Burkina Faso’s new rulers are looking for 35,000 other auxiliaries.
The press release issued by Colonel Boukari Zoungrana, commander of the Brigade de ‘Veille et de Defense Patriotique (BVDP, vigilante group) on Tuesday, October 25, indicates that “the mission of these VDPs is to protect the people and property of their towns, alongside the Defense and Security Forces.”
This vast recruitment campaign is part of “Captain Ibrahim Traore’s new counter-terrorism strategy,” an officer of the Burkinabe army contacted by APAnews commented. “This strategy is refined around the Special Anti-Terrorist Force, based on a remobilization of all fighting forces, notably VDPs (volunteers),” he added.
The VDP component was created in November 2019, by President Roch Kabore, in a context of increasing jihadist attacks in the north of the country. In September 2022, the law creating the auxiliaries of the defense forces was amended to better address their concerns.
Since Captain Ibrahim Traore came to power in a coup against Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Damiba, jihadist attacks in the north of the country have killed at least 18 Burkinabe soldiers and four VDP.
On the occasion of his inauguration on Friday, October 21, Captain Traore assured that “our objective is to reconquer the occupied parts of the territory and to give a new lease of life to the people,” recalling that “the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the country was the reason for the intervention of the military in the conduct of state affairs on January 24.”
The September 30 putsch, of which he is the leader, was aimed at correcting the situation in the face of “the drifts of Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Damiba.”
AC/fss/abj/APA