OUAGADOUGOU, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Fourteen civilians were killed in a
jihadist attack in northern Burkina Faso near the Mali border, the military
said on Monday.
The army conducted raids in three northern provinces in response and said
it had “neutralised” 146 militants, according to a report that AFP could not
immediately confirm from an independent source.
The jihadist attack, which took place in the town of Kain in the Yatenta
province bordering Mali, is one of the most serious recorded in the country
and came on the eve of a G5 Sahel summit in Ouagadougou.
Army spokesman Colonel Lamoussa Fofana said in a statement: “On the night
of Sunday 3 to Monday, February 4, 2019 a terrorist attack in Kain left 14
civilian victims.
“In response to this attack, the national defence and security forces
immediately began operations in the Kain, Banh (Loroum Province, north) and
Bomboro (Kossi Province, northwest) areas.
“This counterattack… resulted in a land and air operation which
neutralised 146 terrorists in the three areas,” the statement said.
A military source confirmed to AFP that the term “neutralise” meant kill.
– Sahel force struggling –
The army said it suffered “light casualties” but “no loss of life” during
the retaliations, adding that security operations were continuing in the
affected areas.
Both civilians and security forces have paid a heavy price for jihadist
attacks in recent years, with the death toll now standing at nearly 300 since
2015.
There were three major attacks in the north alone last month: on January
10, 12 civilians were killed in the village of Gasseliki; on January 27, 10
civilians were killed in an attack on Sikire; and on January 28, four
soldiers died in a massive jihadist attack in Nassoumbou.
Attacks have also affected the east, and to a lesser extent, the west of
the country.
Ouagadougou has been hit three times since 2016, with nearly 60 lives lost.
The last attack, in March 2018, hit the army headquarters in the city centre.
The Kain attack came just before a summit of the five Sahel countries —
Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger — to be held in the capital
on Tuesday.
The group have put together a military force to try to stem the jihadist
attacks throughout the region, but the force is fighting an uphill battle.
Its commander, Mauritanian General Hanena Ould Sidi, announced on Sunday
that the force had staged three operations since January 15, without giving
more details.
Burkina Faso police are also struggling to combat the increasingly frequent
and deadly jihadist attacks. Since 1 January, a state of emergency has been
declared in 14 out of 45 provinces, giving additional powers to security
forces.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore dismissed the army chief of staff this
month and then replaced the defence and security ministers during a
reshuffle.
At the end of February, Burkina Faso will host the Panafrican Film and
Television Festival of Ouagadougou, one of the biggest African film
festivals, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.