Burkina Faso decrees “general mobilization” in the face of jihadist attacks

The transitional authorities in Burkina Faso decreed, Thursday, April 13, the “general mobilization” in order to “give the state all the necessary means” to deal with the jihadist attacks that regularly plague the country. “It is above all a question, through this decree, of giving a legal, legal framework to all the actions to be implemented to deal with the situation that Burkina Faso is experiencing”explained the presidency in a press release.

This decision comes a week after the death of 44 civilians in the attack on two villages in the northeast of the country. The authorities will have in particular “the right to request people, goods and services, the right to subject resources to supply to control and distribution” And “the right to call for defense employment, individually or collectively”specifies the report of the Council of Ministers.

More than 10,000 dead

According to the law on the organization of national defense, “in the event of danger threatening the security and territorial integrity, the security of institutions and that of the population, the Head of State may, in addition to the state of exception, decree for all or part of the national territory: on guard, a state of emergency, general mobilization”.

In December, the transitional president, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, had seized the Constitutional Council for the taking of this decree and had obtained a favorable opinion. Burkina Faso, the scene of two military coups in 2022, has been caught in a spiral of jihadist violence since 2015. For seven years, thehe violence left more than 10,000 dead, civilians and soldiers, according to NGOs, and some two million displaced.