{"id":5392,"date":"2019-06-17T15:31:24","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T15:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sahelien.com\/en\/?p=5392"},"modified":"2019-06-20T23:40:45","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T23:40:45","slug":"burkina-faso-in-the-center-north-the-security-situation-remains-worrying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sahelien.com\/en\/burkina-faso-in-the-center-north-the-security-situation-remains-worrying\/","title":{"rendered":"Burkina Faso: In the center-north, the security situation remains worrying"},"content":{"rendered":"

For more than three years, the country is facing many terrorist threats.\u00a0 In April, they intensified in the north besieged by armed men killing dozens of people and causing many displaced.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The northern part of Burkina Faso, close to the Malian border, is the target of terrorist attacks of various origins.\u00a0 The conflicts that have existed since the dawn of time are essentially linked to land and customary chiefdoms. Conflicts between farmers and pastoralists are recurrent, especially during the rainy season.<\/p>\n

During the last three years, the Ansaroul Islam group of the radical preacher, Maalam Ibrahim Dicko, has settled in the Soum<\/a> province. He advocates jihad and attacks other members of the Muslim community and all religious denominations who do not adhere to his cause.<\/p>\n

Initially, local officials and State symbols are those who were attacked, some soldiers killed, and equipment taken away.\u00a0 Teachers left classes.\u00a0 More than 1 200 schools closed, 5 032 teachers affected and 154 235 students, of whom 46.6% are girls, are on the street in 2019, according to the Minister of Education, Stanislas Ouaro.<\/p>\n

Since then, the situation is becoming more complicated day by day.\u00a0 Last April, the attacks took an even more worrying proportion. This is the first time a church has been attacked in Silgadji, killing 5 people, including the pastor.\u00a0 Then in Kongonssi located at 100 km between Djibo and Ouagadougou. The last time, it was a church in Toulf\u00e9, in the north, 50km from Ouahigouya, which was attacked, killing 3 people and leaving 10 wounded.\u00a0 More than 15 stolen vehicles between April and June, in the north, between Kongoussi, Arbinda and Mentao.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fear on Djibo<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the city of Djibo, people hide in their homes from 7 pm, because of the curfew that starts from 8 pm to 6 am.\u00a0 \u201cMy wife died in my arms at 11pm.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know how to get her to the hospital because of the curfew.\u00a0 If you go out, you’re dead\u201d<\/em>, Moussa Tamboura tells us.<\/p>\n

Very often, putrefying bodies lie on the roads of the countryside.\u00a0 Not a single day goes by without there being an attack, despite the presence of the military in the area.\u00a0 All the traditional chiefs have left the area as well as the mayors of the 09 communes.<\/p>\n

Arbinda is located 91 km east of Djibo.\u00a0 The city has been inaccessible for more than two months.\u00a0 It has been besieged by the terrorists.\u00a0 The 170 000 inhabitants of the 47 villages are concentrated in the center.\u00a0 The terrorists search vehicles, kidnap people and kill them sometimes.\u00a0 On June 8, 03 trucks carrying food from Dori were burned by armed men, one of the drivers slaughtered.\u00a0 For the mayor of Arbinda, Werem Boureima, there must be a definitive securing of the area.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The army pointed at<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the ground, the collaboration between the army and the population has been severely tested from the beginning.\u00a0 Those who are suspected of providing information to the military are targets.\u00a0 Adding to this is the abuse of the Defense and Security Forces<\/a> (FDS) in the fight against terrorism, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).<\/p>\n

Ciss\u00e9 Amadou, a resident of Kourfael, a village attached to Djibo indicates that his father was executed by the military at his workplace.\u00a0 He explains: \u201cSoldiers came to make the report on corpse dressed in military uniform.\u00a0 The corpse was trapped, and the explosion killed a military nurse.\u00a0 It was 200 meters from the antenna of a mobile phone network that my father was guarding.\u00a0 They took him, and we haven\u2019t heard from him again.\u00a0 Two months later, a family member found his rotting body in the bush.\u00a0 He recognized him by his clothes.\u00a0 I buried the remains of my father\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

According to testimonies collected on the spot, several young people joined the ranks of the terrorists because of this situation. Some have dropped out of university to \u201cavenge\u201d<\/em> the death of a relative or someone close. A. D. wished to remain anonymous.\u00a0 This student also accuses the FDS of having shot his brother.\u00a0 Another is missing.\u00a0 \u201cHe was everything to me and I don\u2019t know who to confide in to continue my studies, I am troubled, I don\u2019t even know how to work\u201d, he worries.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sons of a Koutougou city councilor were enlisted in jihadist groups after their father was killed.\u00a0 One of the deceased\u2019s sons served at the Djibo Police Station as a volunteer for two years before leaving to turn against his former collaborators.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Doofu<\/a> operation or \u201cuproot\u201d in Fulani language continues in the area.\u00a0 \u201cThe threat is still weighing, and it is soon the rainy season\u201d, feared Amadou Maiga, a resident of Barboule.\u00a0 \u201cWe will not be able to cultivate our farms and our children are not doing anything, how are we going to find food?\u201d<\/em> He asks, adding: \u201cStudents in exam class will not be able to write their exam.\u00a0 Even in the city of Djibo, schools have been closed since the beginning of the third quarter\u201d<\/em>. The only bank in Djibo has closed since April. Previously, it was the staff of the Djibo High Court who went to Ouagadougou.<\/p>\n

Many displaced<\/strong><\/p>\n

Between 2016 and 2019, inter-religious and ethnic conflicts intensified with the advent of terrorism, leaving more than 1 000 dead, 170 000 displaced and extensive material damages.\u00a0 Northern Burkina Faso and the Sahel are the most affected areas.\u00a0 In Beleganygu\u00e9 in the Kelbo commune, in Foub\u00e9 and Barsalogho in the center-north, nearly 30 000 displaced persons who have fled the conflict zones are split between sites and foster homes.<\/p>\n

The intensification of the attacks by unidentified armed men in the city of Arbinda has caused more than 20 000 displaced, including 15 000 on the site of Foub\u00e9. Our attempts to meet the occupants of the displaced persons site were unsuccessful.\u00a0 At the time we were in discussion with officials, an alert from Arbinda reported 19 dead in an attack, when 17 km separate Arbinda from Foub\u00e9.\u00a0 We then progressed to Barsalogho, where we met the displaced persons after the attacks in Yirgou in early January, leaving 70 dead, according to the government.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, on December 31, 2018, the village chief of Yirgou and five members of his family were shot dead by an armed commando.\u00a0 The village people, accompanied by the self-defense group Koglweogo, attacked the local Fulani community.\u00a0 it is accused of protecting the assailants who killed the village chief and his family members, all Mossi.<\/p>\n

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