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Tag: Burkina Faso

  • Burkina Faso confirms first two cases of coronavirus

    Burkina Faso has confirmed its first two cases of the novel coronavirus, local media reported Monday.

    The two patients are a couple, the wife having recently returned from France, a report said, quoting Health Minister Claudine Lougue.

    Lougue added that the patients were quarantined in a local hospital in the capital Ouagadougou.

    A third person who was in close contact with the couple is under observation, according to the report.

    At least 109,578 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, have been reported worldwide as of Monday, an increase of 3,994 infections from the previous day, according to a coronavirus update released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

    Of the 3,994 new infections, 3,949 were outside China, according to the WHO.

    Besides Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Albania and Paraguay reported cases of COVID-19 for the first time as of Monday, bringing the total number of countries and regions affected by the coronavirus to around 105.

    Burkina Faso has become the latest African country to report coronavirus cases after Cameroon, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Togo and Egypt, which on Sunday reported the first coronavirus fatality on the content.

    Source: www.aa.com.tr

  • Turkey condemns terror attack in Burkina Faso

    Turkey on Monday condemned a terrorist attack killing at least 43 people in the West African country of Burkina Faso.

    “We are deeply saddened to receive the news that many people lost their lives in a terrorist attack perpetrated on 8 March in northern villages of Burkina Faso,” said a Foreign Ministry statement.

    “We condemn this terrorist attack. We extend our sincere condolences to the government and people of Burkina Faso as well as to the families and relatives of those who lost their lives,” it added.

    Unidentified gunmen on Sunday attacked the villages of Dinguila and Barga in Burkina Faso’s Yatenga region, where Fulani people live, according to a presidential statement.

    At least 43 villagers were killed in the attack and six injured.

    Burkina Faso is witnessing a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency.

    Last October, over 486,000 internally displaced people were registered, more than twice the July 2019 figure. The country’s Centre-Nord and Sahel regions are the most affected, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

    A state of emergency in northern Burkina Faso which ended on Jan. 12 was extended for another year to boost the fight against terrorism.

    It is currently being implemented in seven of the country’s 13 regions.

    Source: www.aa.com.tr

  • Burkina Faso violence forces 4,000 people from their homes daily

    More than 4,000 people are being forced to flee their homes daily in Burkina Faso as attacks on civilians by armed groups increase in number and frequency, the United Nations has warned.

    In a statement on Friday, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said more than 700,000 people were displaced in the past 12 months, with an estimated 150,000 of them being uprooted in the last three weeks alone.

    “People fleeing the violence report attacks on their villages by militant groups, killing, raping, pillaging. Terrified of these attacks, residents have left everything behind to find safety,” the agency said.

    Most of the displaced people were now living in host communities, but the UNHCR was finding it difficult to assist them because access was “problematic” in some regions due to the insecure situation, spokesman Andrej Mahecic told a news briefing.

    Mahecic stressed that the situation in the Sahel region needs more attention, describing it as a “crisis” that is “poorly known and poorly understood”.

    Rise in violence

    Burkina Faso borders Mali to the northwest and Niger to the east, with all three Sahelian countries hit by a swiftly deteriorating security situation.

    Last month, the UN envoy for West Africa told the Security Council that attacks have increased fivefold in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger since 2016, with more than 4,000 deaths reported in 2019.

    Many parts of the Sahel that have seen the most fighting are severely underdeveloped. The multiple armed groups operating in the region, a semi-arid swathe of land beneath the Sahara, have exploited poverty as well as religious and ethnic divisions for recruitment. Meanwhile, the military campaigns by the ill-equipped national armies have also been marred by human rights abuses, which analysts say have pushed some civilians into the arms of fighters.

    The rise in violence in the Sahel has fed a feeling of increased insecurity among locals.

    The UNHCR said more than 4,400 refugees from Niger had arrived in Mali, fleeing a string of attacks in the Tillaberi and Tahoua regions, including an attack in early January.

    The refugees had found safety in the Malian towns of Anderamboukane and Menaka, where they joined another 7,700 displaced Malians in the same area.

    More people continue to cross the border between Niger and Mali, the agency said.

    “Alarmed by the dramatic rise of forced displacement in the Sahel, UNHCR reiterates its call for the protection of civilian populations and those fleeing violence,” the statement said, adding that “humanitarians need safe access to deliver assistance.”

    Source: Aljzeera

  • Ghana extends rail line to Burkina Faso Akufo-Addo

    What started as the Tema to Paga railway line project has become Ghana to Burkina Railway Interconnectivity Project, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

    Speaking on the rail sector of the economy while delivering his fourth State of the Nation Address on Thursday, 20 February 2020, Mr Akufo-Addo said: “The contractors have assured the government that the Tema to Mpakadan line, which includes a three hundred (300)-meter rail bridge over the Volta River, will be completed in August.

    “Those who travel along the Accra to Akosombo route would testify that this is a reality, as we can all see the work being done. I hope to travel on that line in August. We can safely say that the rail line journey to Paga has begun.”

    He added: “The Tema to Accra line has been operational for two years and the Accra to Nsawam line would soon be operational. The Takoradi to Tarkwa line was inaugurated a few weeks ago and is proving to be very popular and being enthusiastically patronised”, the President said.

    “What started as the Tema to Paga railway line has become the Ghana to Burkina Railway Interconnectivity Project”, he noted, adding: “Approximately eight hundred (800) Kilometers of this rail line will be in Ghana and two hundred (200) kilometers in Burkina Faso.”

    Source: classfmonline.com

  • Gunmen kill 24 in attack on Burkina Faso church

    Gunmen killed twenty-four people, including a pastor, in an attack on a church during Sunday mass in northwestern Burkina Faso, four security sources told Reuters on Monday.

    It was yet clear who was responsible. The government confirmed the deaths in a statement but did not say that the attack occurred in a church.

    Source: reuters.com

  • Burkina Faso to arm civilians against militants

    The authorities in Burkina Faso, struggling to grapple with a growing wave of Islamist militant attacks that is affecting the region, are planning to give weapons to civilians.

    In January alone, at least 60 people were killed in four separate attacks in the north of the country.

    Members of parliament recently unanimously voted in favour of arming civilians in a move they said would help combat armed groups. It is due to be signed into law.

    Any national aged 18 and over who has a “spirit of sacrifice” can be considered for recruitment and there is no maximum age. But recruits cannot be part of any political group or party.

    The attacks by militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have significantly increased in the past year, causing more than half a million people to flee their homes.

    Critics have questioned whether the new measure will make people safer, but the government insists that armed volunteers are necessary to stem the spread of violence.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Burkina Faso president calls for two days of mourning after ‘terrorist group’ kills dozens

    Militants killed 36 civilians when they attacked villages in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Tuesday, appealing for local volunteers to bolster its fight against jihadists.

    A “terrorist group” killed 32 civilians when they attacked and burned the market in Nagraogo village before killing four more people in Alamou village on Monday, the government said.

    Three other people were wounded in the attacks, it added.

    “The Burkina government has learned with consternation and anger of the deaths of 36 Burkinabe in Sanmatenga province, after a terrorist attack,” communications minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said.

    Read:Burkina Faso: Gunmen ambush mining firm convoy and kill 37

    Hundreds of people have fled the area and taken refuge in the city of Kaya, in Sanmatenga province, according to residents contacted by AFP.

    President Roch Marc Christian Kabore announced a two-day period of mourning, for Wednesday and Thursday, during which flags will be flown at half-mast and festivals will be prohibited.

    Volunteer plan

    Faced with these “repeated attacks” against civilians, the government launched an appeal for the people’s “frank collaboration” with the defence and security forces.

    Read:17 killed in Burkina Faso attacks

    The Burkina parliament on Tuesday adopted unanimously a law allowing for the recruitment of local volunteers in the fight against jihadists.

    According to a document seen by AFP, volunteers aged over 18 will be recruited in their regions in agreement with local populations.

    They will be given 14 days military training, after which they will be given small arms and other communication equipment.

    The recruits would be expected to conduct surveillance and provide information and protection for their local communities in the event of an attack while waiting for security forces to deploy, according to Defence Minister Cheriff Sy.

    Burkina Faso, as well as neighbouring Mali and Niger, has seen frequent jihadist attacks which have left hundreds of people dead since the start of 2015 when Islamist extremist violence began to spread across the Sahel region.

    Read:More than a dozen killed in Burkina Faso bus attack

    According to the UN, around 4,000 people were killed in jihadist attacks in the three Sahel countries last year.

    The Burkina Faso army is ill-equipped and poorly-trained to deal with the threat posed by jihadists in the country.

    However, in recent months they have enjoyed a series of successes, claiming to have killed a hundred jihadists in many operations.

    There are 4,500 French troops deployed in the Sahel region as well as a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali to fight insurgents, backing up national forces of the G5 — Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

    In the wake of the latest attack European Commission diplomatic spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said it was a reminder of the “urgency” of a plan to increase European security and development action in the region.

    “Thoughts for the families of the victims of this new terrorist attack in a market in Burkina Faso,” she said on Twitter.

    Source: France24

  • Militants kill 36 people in Burkina Faso attack

    The government in Burkina Faso says 36 people have been killed in a terrorist attack in the central-northern province of Sanmatenga.

    It is said an armed group killed 32 people in a market in the village of Nagraogo on Monday evening, and then attacked four other villagers near Alamou.

    Read:Anger grows as families bury the dead after Burkina Faso attack

    It’s not clear who carried out the assaults, but Burkina Faso has seen increasing number of deadly attacks by Islamist militants.

    Earlier on Tuesday the country’s parliament voted to create a civilian volunteer force to fight militant groups.

    Local media reported that the volunteers would be given 14 days of initial military training.

    Source: bbc.com

  • More than a dozen killed in Burkina Faso bus attack

    At least 14 people, including seven children, have been killed when a bus carrying students ran over an improvised explosive device in northern Burkina Faso, according to the government.

    It was not immediately clear who was responsible for Saturday’s blast, which hit one bus in a convoy of three that was carrying 160 passengers in all, the government said in a statement on Sunday.

    Ghana-Burkina Faso railway progresses steadily- Deputy Minister

    “The provisional toll is 14 dead,” the statement said, adding that 19 more people were hurt, three of them seriously.

    Seven children and four women were among the dead, the statement said.

    The incident occurred in Sourou province, near the border with Mali, where armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have increased attacks over the past two years despite international efforts to stamp them out.

    The violence, which has ignited ethnic and religious tensions, has killed hundreds of people since the start of 2015 when insecurity began to spread across the Sahel region.

    Last month, attackers killed 35 mostly female civilians after raiding a military outpost in Soum Province, also in Burkina Faso’s north. About 87 attackers and local security forces were killed in the clash, authorities said.

    Burkina Faso mosque attack kills 15 worshippers

    In a televised address on Tuesday, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore insisted that “victory” against “terrorism” was assured.

    Five Sahel states – Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad – have joined forces to combat the violence in the fragile region that lies between the Sahara and the Atlantic.

    Source: www.aljazeera.com

  • Militants killed in Burkina Faso sex slave raid

    The army in Burkina Faso says it has killed 32 armed men – described as “terrorists” – during two operations in the north of the country, the first of which resulted in the freeing of many women who were being kept as sex slaves.

    The first offensive took place in Yorsala forest where the military said it killed 24 armed men during several hours of fierce fighting in which one soldier died.

    Read:Burkina Faso: Gunmen ambush mining firm convoy and kill 37

    Eight other suspected militants were killed in Bourzanga, where large quantities of arms and ammunition were seized, the army said.

    Islamist violence in on the increase in the West African nation.

    Read:Burkina Faso mosque attack kills 15 worshippers

    These two military offensives come less than a month since nearly 40 employees of a Canadian mining company were killed in an ambush.

    Hundreds of people have died and nearly half a million have fled their homes since the unrest began in 2015.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Burkina Faso: Gunmen ambush mining firm convoy and kill 37

    At least 37 people have been killed and 60 wounded in an attack on a mining company convoy in Burkina Faso, authorities say.

    Five buses carrying staff of Canadian firm Semafo were ambushed on Wednesday about 40km (24 miles) from the eastern town of Boungou, reports say.

    A military escort vehicle was reportedly struck by an explosive device before gunmen opened fire.

    It is said to be the third deadliest on Semafo staff in 15 months.

    Read:17 killed in Burkina Faso attacks

    The West African country has been wracked by an Islamist insurgency that has killed hundreds of people in recent years.

    The military has struggled to contain violence that spilled over the border from neighbouring Mali.

    Semafo ramped up its security last year after attacks near its two mines in the country.

    The latest attack happened on a road between Fada and its mine in Boungou, the company said.

    Read:Burkina Faso mosque attack kills 15 worshippers

    The company said its operations had not been affected and offered condolences to the families of the victims, none of whom have been named.

    “We are actively working with all levels of authorities to ensure the ongoing safety and security of our employees, contractors and suppliers,” the firm said in a statement.

    What’s happening in Burkina Faso?

    Jihadist attacks have increased in Burkina Faso since 2015.

    Read:Four killed in Burkina Faso ambush

    The conflict spread across the border from neighbouring Mali, where Islamist militants took over the north of the country in 2012 before French troops pushed them out.

    About 500,000 people in Burkina Faso have been forced to flee their homes over the past three months, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

    Last month, 20 people were killed in an attack on a gold-mining site in the north.

    Days later, thousands protested in the capital Ouagadougou to denounce violence in their country and the presence of foreign military forces in the region.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Four killed in Burkina Faso ambush

    Officials in Burkina Faso said on Sunday that four people had been killed in an ambush, including the deputy mayor of the northern town of Djibo.

    Read:17 killed in Burkina Faso attacks

    The governor of the Sahel region said unidentified armed men ambushed the deputy mayor’s vehicle in the commune of Gaskindé.

    Read:Burkina Faso mosque attack kills 15 worshippers

    It is the latest in a series of attacks in the north of Burkina Faso, where hundreds of people have been killed in a jihadist revolt.

    Source: bbc.com