Can Burkina Faso overcome relentless terrorism threat?

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) – Just weeks ago, Burkina Faso and its unrelenting issue of terrorism were again in headlines around the world, raising questions over the military government’s strategy to combat terrorist groups.

A series of attacks in several villages on Feb. 24-25 left at least 170 people dead in the country’s north, sparking fears of a fresh wave of terrorism in the West African country.

In Africa, Burkina Faso ranks as the country most affected by terrorism, while it is the second worst-hit in the entire world, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2023, a report published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a global think tank headquartered in Australia.

According to the report, 22,074 people were killed in 6,408 terrorist attacks in the Sahel region between 2007 and 2022, including 8,564 victims in Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso saw a 50% increase in terrorism-related deaths compared with 2021, according to the same report.

Ansarul Islam, a local group affiliated with the al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Sahel terrorist organizations, is active in the country, where the military has been in power in 2022.

There was coup in January 2022 led by Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was then overthrown in September as Capt. Ibrahim Traore took power.

One of the main reasons the military officers cited for their coups was the country’s increasingly deteriorating security situation, and asserted that fighting terrorism will be a top priority.

In December 2023, the transitional government claimed it had retaken some 65% of the territory that was under control of terrorist groups.

However, political analyst Gilles Olakounle Yabi feels there is “continuing deterioration in the security situation and the absence of any clear sign of improvement.”

That is “because of the hardening of the regime in power, which has chosen to militarize its entire response to terrorism,” Yabi, founder and president of WATHI, a West African think tank, told Anadolu.

This attitude of militarizing everything will lead to the closure of all options for discussion and space for political and civic expression, he said.

“We have a response that is based on the mobilization of substantial financial resources to equip the army and pay the country’s volunteers, its auxiliaries,” he said.

“Energies are focused on the military response, even if this is not necessarily enough to improve the situation.”

- A costly strategy

Yabi said the mounting human cost in the fight against terrorism should come as no surprise, “given that the authorities have opted for an offensive military response.”

“Because it means much more direct confrontation between the armed forces and the groups,” he said.

“The former leaders were criticized for their lack of determination to fight and their passivity … With Capt. Traore, it is all about attacking, not just retaliating.”

This assertive military approach is leading to higher casualties on all sides and among civilians, said Yabi.

He deplored the lack of information about the government’s strategies, saying that “there is no independent media but just military propaganda.”

“The concern is to consider the military response as the only option in a complex situation. They are dealing with armed groups implanted within populations, and in these cases purely military action should be limited,” he stressed.

Yabi called for a different approach based on creating connections with the population and opening channels for negotiations or dialogue.

If not with the leaders of the groups, but with certain elements who can be open to talks, he added.

- Complete eradication ‘very difficult’

Yabi stressed that it will be “very difficult to completely eradicate” terrorist groups with the current strategy.

“There are few examples of armed groups being completely eliminated by drone bombing. Because they are within the population, and if they eliminate them, they also run the risk of eliminating the population at the same time,” he said.

With this current approach, this situation could go on for several more years because these groups are mobile, he added.

Seyni Diop, a former Senegalese army officer who is now a security expert, agreed that the overall situation in terms of the terrorism threat cannot be “remedied quickly.”

“A security situation that has been deteriorating for over a decade due to several factors, including the incompetence of civilian leaders, cannot be remedied quickly,” he told Anadolu.

“It has to be resolved in the medium to long term,” he added.