Dozens killed in latest Sahel militant attack

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Last week, Burkina Faso’s leader addressed the nation to reassure Burkinabés that his security measures were working.

Less than 24 hours later, a convoy of civilian vehicles hit an improvised explosive device (IED). Thirty-five people died on the spot and 37 were evacuated to the capital, Ouagadougou, with injuries. 

The defence minister, Barthélémy Simporé, told journalists on Wednesday that the bomb was triggered remotely and hit a vehicle carrying women and children.

The incident, which happened on the road between the northern town of Djibo and Ouagadougou, was the fourth in two months. 

On 1 July, four civilians were killed when their tricycle hit an IED along the same road. Two subsequent attacks — on the Djibo-Bourzanga road and the Dori-Sebba road, both near the border with Niger — killed 17 soldiers.

The government says that it killed 84 militants in the same period.

“This is proof that we don’t have control of this route,” said Mahamadou Savadogo, a former police officer and now a security expert, after the attack.

The continued violence puts military leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in an awkward position. 

He led the January coup that removed the country’s elected president, Roch Kaboré, and justified it by saying that the civilian government had failed to pacify the country. Political commentator Siaka Coulibaly said, “Terrorists aren’t reduced like we would have thought and they keep their ability to be harmful.” 

Even Damiba appears to have a slight change in tone. After the Monday attack he said that the security situation was everyone’s responsibility.

Although agreeing that everyone had a role to play, Savadogo pointed out that this responsibility was not equally shared. “The government has the responsibility to restore peace.” He added that Burkina Faso was struggling to see results because the army is still not united. 

This article first appeared in The Continent, the pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with the Mail & Guardian. It is designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. Download your free copy here.