Unidentified assailants killed 40 people and wounded 33 others in an attack on the army and volunteer defence forces in northern Burkina Faso, the government said in a statement on April 16. The attack took place on Saturday in the village of Aorema near the town of Ouahigouya in the North Region, not far from … Read more
Photo used for representational purpose only. Violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group has wracked Burkina Faso for seven years killing thousands and displacing nearly 2 million people. File | Photo Credit: AFP The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for killing more than 70 soldiers, wounding dozens and taking five hostage, in … Read more
CNN — The military government of Burkina Faso has demanded the departure of French troops from the country, according to the government press agency Agence d’Information du Burkina (AIB). France has exactly one month to remove its troops from Burkina Faso, according to the terms of the 2018 agreement, AIB reported, citing sources. The military … Read more
CNN — The mediator sent to Burkina Faso by West Africa’s main political and economic bloc ECOWAS, Mahamadou Issoufou, on Tuesday said he was satisfied by a meeting with the country’s new military leader Ibrahim Traore. Issoufou added that the 15-member bloc would continue accompanying Burkina Faso’s transition to constitutional rule after the country was … Read more
Reuters — As a heavily armed convoy drove through a cheering crowd in Burkina Faso’s capital on Sunday morning, the boyish face of the country’s latest military ruler, Captain Ibrahim Traore, emerged from the turret of an armored personnel carrier. Sporting fatigues and a red beret, the 34-year-old smiled and raised his thumb as onlookers … Read more
President Emmanuel Macron warned in comments published Sunday that France will pull its troops out of Mali if it lurches towards radical Islamism following the second coup in nine months. France has around 5,100 troops in the region under its so-called Barkhane operation which spans five countries in the Sahel — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, … Read more
GAO, MALI: Inside a military base in northern Mali, a concrete bollard emblazoned with French, Estonian and Swedish flags marks a zone reserved for a new anti-jihadist unit of elite European troops. Dubbed Task Force Takuba, the new joint deployment marks a coup for France, which has sought partners in its long fight against Islamist … Read more