UA new two-day national mourning was decreed this Sunday by the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré following jihadist pressure which continues to claim victims in the country. This week, suspected jihadists hit and killed 41 civilians and army auxiliaries, the Homeland Defense Volunteers (VDP), in the You area (North). “The search mission on the ambush zone (…) established an assessment of 41 bodies,” said a statement from government spokesman Alkassoum Maïga. Among the victims is Ladji Yoro, considered a leader of the VDP in Burkina Faso, the statement said.
Tribute to Ladji Yoro, emblematic Defense Volunteers for the Fatherland
In its fight against jihadist groups, the Burkinabè army, weak and ill-equipped, relies on these “VDP”, civilian auxiliaries trained in two weeks and who are paying a heavy price. The Burkinabè president had already paid tribute to Ladji Yoro on Friday. “This intrepid Volunteer for the defense of the fatherland must be the model of our determined commitment to fight the enemy”, had tweeted the Head of State. The Ministry of the Armed Forces, for its part, hailed “the heroism of Ladji Yoro” who “fought to the point of supreme sacrifice”. However, no results of this ambush had been announced by the executive. “The identification of the victims is still in progress”, indicates the statement of the government which “strongly condemns this barbarism”.
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It’s exasperation on all floors
According to several Burkinabè media, this ambush of suspected jihadists targeted a convoy of traders on Thursday, escorted by VDPs. This attack is the deadliest since that of Inata (North), mid-November, where 57 people, including 53 gendarmes, were killed, causing the exasperation of the population. Two weeks before this attack, the gendarmes of Inata had alerted the staff to their precarious situation, claiming to lack food and to feed themselves thanks to poaching. Hundreds of Burkinabè took to the streets of Ouagadougou on November 27 to demand the departure of the executive, accused of being unable to stop jihadist violence.
Like its Malian and Nigerian neighbors, Burkina Faso has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of violence attributed to jihadist armed groups, affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have left at least 2,000 dead and 1.4 million people. displaced. The “three borders” area, on the borders of Mali and Niger, is particularly affected. In early December, the government was sacked and a new prime minister, former UN official Lassina Zerbo, appointed. Many ministers, including in key positions, such as Defense, Security, or the Economy, had however retained their portfolios. The president called for a “rally” to defeat “terrorism”.
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