Burkina Faso rises up to confront terrorism by uniting national ranks

The Republic of Burkina Faso in West Africa is suffering from the expansion of terrorist groups in the midst of political and social turmoil that extremists exploit to build networks in the country. Therefore, the solutions proposed to confront terrorism are linked to stability in this country and to creating a state of unity towards the future goals of the region between the government and the people.

The impact of the political instability that Burkina Faso suffers from is evident in the spread of terrorism, with its dire economic repercussions. For its part, the country's new government is trying to stop extremist groups through calls for unity.

Legal measures to counter terrorism

Burkina Faso President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba decided to call national meetings on Monday, February 28, to discuss the draft constitutional texts and the agenda for the transitional phase in the country in order to provide a consensual and comprehensive approach that enables the country to hold fair and transparent presidential elections.

Damiba stressed that these steps have the most important goal of combating terrorism as a priority on the national agenda, pointing out that the first steps to confront extremist groups depend on unity and organization around legal standards that determine the country's future.

The president and his aides aspire that the texts of the political transition process will give the state and its agencies exponential capabilities in order to combat terrorism in light of the deteriorating security and military conditions, as they consider the war against terrorism to be very complex and requiring concerted efforts.

Political turmoil versus opportunities for terrorism

Political turmoil provides greater opportunities for terrorist groups to expand. According to a study by the Institute for Economics and Peace in the Australian city of Sydney, areas that suffer from political instability have the largest number of victims of terrorist groups, and hence there is a conditional relationship between politics and security.

In the case of Burkina Faso, the country witnessed a military coup on January 23, resulting in the removal of former President Roch Marc Kaboré from power, the dissolution of the parliament and the disruption of the constitution, which led to a regional and international controversy over the efforts of the West African bloc countries to confront terrorism, as well as Western countries helping to defeat extremism, like France.

With Damiba announcing his inauguration as the country’s president during the current transitional period, the terrorism file remains a concern for neighboring countries that are trying to secure their borders. Therefore, Damiba’s announcement of calling for a national meeting for consensus on constitutional texts and mechanisms to confront terrorism appears to be an international necessity at the present time.

Burkina Faso's wealth and rampant terrorism

Terrorist groups are taking advantage of the deteriorating security and political situation in Burkina Faso, causing a very serious impact on the country’s wealth of strategic minerals and foreign investments. In November 2019, at least 37 people were killed and dozens injured as a result of a terrorist attack against a bus carrying workers for the Canadian mining company Semafo, as the victims were working in a gold mine in Boungou, which led to the disruption of the mine's work.

Semafo suffered other attacks in Burkina Faso, like other foreign mining companies in the region, and this caused these companies to rely on private security companies to secure their works, which increased the cost of projects and thus the cost of the ore itself, in addition to economic damage due to the disruption of foreign investments in the country.