Burkina Faso declares mobilization in face of terrorism
Burkina Faso suffers from the spread of terrorism and the aggravation of its activities.
This African country's transitional government
tries to take effective measures to control the security situation and stop the
loss of lives and economic resources.
On April 13, the government of Burkina Faso declared
a state of general mobilization to confront terrorism as the main goal of the
current regime.
Africa News site quoted interim President Ibrahim Traoré as saying
that terrorist groups control about 40% of his country.
Traoré seeks to regain
control of the territories captured by terrorists, within fierce competition
between al-Qaeda and ISIS.
This competition opened the door for geographic
and ideological incursions that exhausted Burkina Faso's military and prompted its
defence minister to declare that the challenges posed by the current security
situation need a more consolidated national unity to effectively confront
violent extremism.
Mobilization, challenges
News of the general mobilization of the
Burkinabe army comes amid demands for the withdrawal of French troops from the
country.
In January 2023, the Ministry of foreign affairs
of Burkina Faso asked France to terminate the agreement concluded in 2018 to allow
the presence of 400 French soldiers in the country.
It justified this by referring to the failure
of French troops in confronting terrorist organizations.
On February 20, Burkina Faso celebrated the
end of military cooperation with France, marking a new stage in Ouagadougou's
fight against terrorism.
Political sociology professor at the American
University in Cairo, Saeed Sadek, said the French government participated in the
international coalition led by the United States against ISIS in its main
strongholds in Syria and Iraq.
"Through the same methodology, France's
struggle against terrorism in Africa undermines violence from beyond borders,"
he told The Reference in previous statements.
"After all, France wants to secure its
own interests in the region," he added.
For his part, extremism researcher, Ali Bakr,
believes that the fight against terrorism in Africa needs trained and
professional military forces.
"The weakness of some African forces gives
the chance for extremist groups to take root and grow," Bakr told The
Reference.
