The military junta in Burkina Faso is in turn facing jihadist violence after a series of attacks, the deadliest since taking power in January, a scourge that the previous government failed to stem.
Twenty-three civilians and thirteen gendarmes died in four attacks perpetrated in a few days in the region of Dori, one of the main towns in the northeast of the country.
This is the heaviest toll since the arrival at the head of Burkina Faso of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré on January 24, in particular accused by a large part of the population. to be ineffective against attacks.
In the wake of Mali and Niger, Burkina Faso has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of violence attributed to jihadist movements, affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have killed more than 2,000 people in the country and forced at least 1.7 million people to flee their homes.
In his public speeches, Mr. Damiba repeated that the fight against terrorism was a priority of the transitional government, which must manage the country for the next three years, before the holding of elections.
But a month after the swearing in, voices are rising to denounce the lack of concrete announcements so far.
“The Burkinabè are still waiting for the roadmap from the new authorities. […] The general conclusion that emerges […] is that everything is idling, ”says the newspaper The Economist of Faso in an editorial which nevertheless recognizes “upheavals” in the military hierarchy, with for example the appointment of a new chief of staff.
According to some experts, there is an urgent need to act, the armed groups multiplying the advances in the northeast, in particular in the region of Dori. “The terrorists’ strategy consists in isolating important towns by cutting off access and communication routes. Dori, for example, is isolated, and people are at risk of joining armed groups in order to survive,” said Mahamoudou Sawadogo, researcher and expert on security issues in the Sahel.
“If we continue to drag on, the air force will no longer be useful to us, because the terrorists are among the population. You have to train the men, go into contact, in close combat, ”he adds.
” Countdown “
Since taking power, Mr. Damiba has remodeled the structures of the anti-jihadist struggle, and in February went to the field to meet the military in the north of the country.
He also appointed a new government, in which the defense minister of the previous government, Barthélémy Simporé, was reappointed.
The terrorists’ strategy consists in isolating important towns by cutting off access and communication routes. Dori, for example, is isolated, and people are at risk of joining armed groups in order to survive.
And in a decree published Thursday, he ordered the mobilization of soldiers who have retired over the past three years.
“The junta has assured that it can significantly reduce terrorist attacks in the country in two years. But it is difficult to see the major actions that can give hope that our defense forces will gain the upper hand over the enemy. We are still waiting for major operations, ”says political analyst Drissa Traoré.
“There is no state of grace, the countdown is on. These latest attacks, which have killed dozens of people in a few days, sound like a reminder that he must move quickly in the course of these actions, ”he continues.
It is difficult to see the great actions that can give hope that our defense forces will take over the enemy
Will the Burkinabe army call on other countries, neighboring or Western, to help it in its anti-jihadist fight? Mr. Damiba has not yet officially taken a position on French and European military involvement in the Sahel, but since he came to power, the French Barkhane force has been able to carry out operations in Burkina.