The leader of Burkina Faso’s recent military coup, Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Damiba,
has called on the international community to back the country in its...


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Burkina Faso’s Military Junta Requests Support In Fight Against Islamist
Militants

 

(New York, N.Y.) — The leader of Burkina Faso’s recent military coup, Lt. Col.
Paul-Henri Damiba, hascalled
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on the international community to back the country in its fight against
militants linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS. Last week, the militarydeposed
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Burkina Faso’s democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in
a move that could prove detrimental to Damiba’s efforts to win support from the
country’s West African neighbors, the United Nations, the United States, and
France.

 

Beginning in 2015, Burkina Faso
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intermittent cross-border raids targeting Burkinabe police and military
outposts near the country’s northern border with Mali. In January 2016, Burkina
Faso witnessed its first major terrorist incident in recent memory, as
al-Qaeda-affiliated militants attacked a hotel in Ouagadougou, killing 30
people and wounding more than 70 others. Since 2019, al-Qaeda and ISIS
affiliates in the region have increased deadly attacks on gold mines in Burkina
Faso. Recently, on November 14, 2021, insurgents attacked a military police
outpost near a gold mine in Inata, killing 53 people—including 49 police
officers and four civilians. The terrorist attack is reportedly the deadliest
suffered by the country’s security forces since Islamist violence surged in
2017. The gendarmes who were attacked had reportedly gone two weeks without
food rations, even after alerting authorities that they were in need of
resources.

 

On January 23, 2022, soldiers mutinied at several army bases across Burkina
Faso, demanding the removal of military top brass and more resources to fight
Islamist insurgents. The following day, soldiers announced that they had
removed Kaboré from office, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the
government and parliament. The political upheaval unfolded after weeks of
protests against Kaboré’s handling of the fight against al-Qaeda and ISIS.

 

To read the Counter Extremism Project (CEP)’s resource Burkina Faso, please
clickhere <[link removed]>.

 

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