Burkina Faso announces general mobilization

The authorities of Burkina Faso have announced a general mobilization to combat “jihadist attacks,” according to AFP. The authorities hope to create a “legal basis for the actions to be taken” against the rebels, interim president Ibrahim Traore said.

He set a goal to return under his control 40% of the country’s territory, which is controlled by jihadists associated with Al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) and the Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). “Because of the security situation we are facing, the health of the nation depends on awakening the national spirit of all its daughters and sons to find a solution,” Defense Minister Kassoum Koulibaly said.

Details of the mobilization decree were not disclosed, but according to an AFP source, the document will include a declaration of a state of emergency in the occupied territories. Authorities have also issued a recommendation allowing the president to “use people, goods and services, and restrict certain civil liberties,” another security source said.

In February, the government of Burkina Faso already announced a plan to recruit 5,000 soldiers to fight an insurgency that has sprung up in the country since 2015. Over the past seven years, more than 10,000 people have died as a result of violence in Burkina Faso, and another 2 million local residents have been forced to flee their homes, according to non-governmental organizations.

Laura Keffer