Geopolitical security tacticians always fret whenever terrorism rears its ugly head in any region. The situation in West Africa is a case in point. The Al-Akhbar News Agency in Mauritania has reported that the Malian militant group, Jama Nusrat Ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, JNIM, has claimed responsibility for the twin attacks that rocked Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, last Friday.
The JNIM said it launched the deadly attacks against the French Embassy and a military compound in retaliation for the deaths of some of its leaders “in a French army raid in northern Mail two weeks ago”.
French military sources said that about 20 militants were “killed or captured” in that particular operation. The assault on the military compound and the French embassy has sparked outrage in the country, as many observers wondered how the jihadists gained access to such high-profile targets.
Reacting immediately after the attacks, President Roch Kabore urged citizens to remain calm and collaborate with Burkinabe authorities in their efforts to combat militant groups operating in the country. “In these difficult moments, I would like to reaffirm to Africa and the entire world my unshakeable faith in the capacity of the Burkinabe people to preserve their dignity and ferociously oppose their enemies,” he said.
It is widely believed that the JNIM arose from the merger of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, with other militant groups operating in the Sahel last year. In 2014, France deployed its troops in Mali in the vanguard of an international force combating all sorts of jihadist groups in the region.
In the past three years, terrorists have been hitting targets in Burkina Faso. Last year, militants killed about twenty people after attacking a restaurant in a central area of Ouagadougou. In 2016, assailants laid siege to a popular hotel in the city center, killing thirty people.
