Insecurity in Southwestern Burkina Faso in the Context of an Expanding Insurgency.
▻https://www.acleddata.com/2019/01/17/insecurity-in-southwestern-burkina-faso-in-the-context-of-an-expanding-in
In the aftermath of several high-profile attacks in the capital city of Ouagadougou between 2016 and 2018, events in the landlocked West African country of Burkina Faso have gained more attention (ACLED, 2018). Particularly of note has been an encroaching insurgency in the country’s north, (CTC, 2018), largely driven by the domestic militant group Ansaroul Islam in tandem with or as part of Jama’ah Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). Since late 2016 until present, violence in the north has displaced 54,000 people (ECHO, 2019), destabilized the local economy, and forced the closure of nearly 800 schools (OCHA, 2018). In 2018, ACLED recorded nearly 200 suspected militant attacks in Burkina Faso (see map below).
When observing the spread of militancy in Western Sahel, three phases of an expansion southward can be clearly distinguished. The first in early 2015 with the spread of the insurgency from northern to central Mali, driven by Katiba Macina. In late 2016, a second phase began in northern Burkina Faso and western Niger, respectively, assumed by Ansaroul Islam and ISGS. And currently the third phase: set in motion in February 2018 with the implantation of militants in the Est Region of Burkina and nearby areas including Torodi in neighboring Niger where elements of all groups converge, reflecting JNIM’s endeavour to deepen cooperation and unify militants. The expansion southward may as well be an effort seeking to overstretch French counter-terrorism forces in the region and to complicate the operationalization of the G5 Sahel Force, in which Burkina Faso is a participant. This spread is particularly relevant to Burkina Faso, occuring at a pace that the government has serious difficulties coping with. New fronts are opening up before authorities, defence, and security forces are able to adequately address previous ones.