Burkina Faso in the face of al-Qaeda terrorists

Ten policemen were killed and at least three others injured in an ambush by a group known as Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in the northwest of the country on Thursday evening, police said in a statement.

The statement confirmed that the police were on a patrol in the city of Tueni, northwest of the capital Ouagadougou, carrying reinforcements on their way to the village of Louroni, which is about 25 km from Tueni.

Burkina Faso Minister of Civil Service, Labor and Social Security Clément Sawadogo said in remarks to television that police and army reinforcements have been sent to conduct patrols in the northwest of the country, adding that the city of Tueni has been recently targeted many armed operations. He said the police are currently developing security mechanisms at all strategic places in the country.

Last Wednesday, Burkina Faso saw another attack on a police department in the northern city of Solan, killing one policeman and wounding another.

Over the past three years, northern Burkina Faso has been the target of attacks, which have spread eastwards near the borders with Togo and Benin. The attacks are attributed to JNIM, which is affiliated to the al-Qaeda group in the Arab Maghreb. The JNIM is believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 255 people since 2015.

Last November, French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly announced the killing of Amadou Koufa, a senior member of the JNIM, last September.

African affairs researcher Mohamed Ezzeddine thinks that the group’s terrorist operations are likely to increase for two reasons. The first is the interruption of supplies from Qatar and Turkey, and the other is the laxity of the UN and government forces in the face of armed extremist groups. He added that the French forces are in Mali and Burkina Faso to defeat terrorism in Africa and protect the stability of the entire continent, while the JNIM will attempt to increase its operations in order to prove its presence in Africa.