🇧🇫🇳🇪 Burkina Faso assembly voted to send troops to Niger

Burkina Faso’s Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT) has unanimously voted to send troops to neighbouring Niger, where the military seized power on 26 July.

Defence Minister Colonel Major Kassoum Coulibaly said the troops will have a three-month renewable stay in Niger, “fighting terrorism and contributing to stabilising Sahel states”.

Burkina Faso’s interim cabinet on 30 August approved the deployment of troops to Niger.

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🇧🇫🇳🇪 Burkina Faso troops join raid on militants in Niger

The armies of Burkina Faso and Niger have killed an unknown number of militants in joint operations, local media has reported.

The attack comes a week after Burkina Faso’s parliament approved the deployment of troops to Niger in order to fight the Islamist uprising along the countries' common border.

Burkina Faso’s state-owned RTB TV channel said on Sunday that raids where launched after troops spotted “a column of terrorists” leaving Niger for Burkina Faso.

Joint forces “neutralised these attackers in pairs on 100 motorbikes and destroyed most of their logistics” in eastern Burkina Faso's Kantchari area, the channel added.

#BurkinaFaso #Niger

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🇧🇫🇫🇷 Burkina Faso junta suspends French magazine over "untruthful" articles

Burkina Faso's military junta on Monday suspended the French news magazine Jeune Afrique for publishing "untruthful" articles that reported tension and discontent within the country's armed forces, it said in a statement.

Jeune Afrique's suspension marks the latest escalation in a crackdown on French media.

The statement accused the publication of seeking to discredit armed forces and of manipulating information to "spread chaos" in the country following two articles published over the past four days.

#BurkinaFaso #France

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🇧🇫 Burkina Faso commander linked to failed coup killed

Burkina Faso's security forces have killed a fugitive commander wanted for his role in last month's reported coup attempt, state-owned RTB TV reported.

Ismael Tohobougou was implicated in the plot and had been on the run after being summoned by the military prosecutor for questioning, the report said.

He was among military officers accused of taking part in a failed coup against Capt Ibrahim Traoré.

The country's defence ministry on Friday announced the suspension of several army officers linked to the attempt. The chief of staff of the national gendarmerie, Lt Col Evrard Somda, was also dismissed and replaced by Lt Col Kouagri Natama.

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🇧🇫🇳🇪 6 soldiers and 31 terrorists were killed in fighting near Burkina Faso — Niger border

Six soldiers and 31 "terrorists" were killed in fighting on Sunday and Monday in the Téra zone, in western Niger near Burkina Faso, the Nigerien Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

“From Sunday October 15 to Monday October 16, 2023, the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) of Operation Niya on a mop-up mission had a series of clashes with terrorist elements in the Lemdou area 50 km to the north -west of Téra", explains the ministry.

“Six soldiers died” and 18 others, injured, were evacuated to Niamey, specifies the statement.

The fighting took place in the Tillabéri region, in the middle of the so-called “three borders” zone between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali , which has become a hideout for Sahelian jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the EIGS.

#BurkinaFaso #Niger

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🇧🇫 🇷🇺 Following the arrival of Russian military personnel in Burkina Faso this week, a high-ranking delegation from the Russian Defense Ministry has now arrived in Ouagadougou.

The Russian military leaders will have substantive discussions regarding the deployment of personnel, the rights and powers of the contingent, and will outline plans for future cooperation.

🔻Forecasting the timing of the expansion of the influence of the Afrika Korps in the region is a difficult task. However, considering the ongoing processes and the formalization of the presence of the Russian Armed Forces in the Sahel (which was not the case during the semi-official voyages of the "Wagner" group), along with delegations traveling from country to country, it is unlikely that this will be a short-term development.

#Russia #Africa #BurkinaFaso
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🇧🇫🇲🇱🇳🇪 ECOWAS urges Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to prioritise dialogue and reconciliation

ECOWAS is urging Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to prioritise dialogue and reconciliation amidst concerns of potential exits from the community.

The regional body which took this position at the conclusion of its extraordinary session on February 8, 2024, stressed the critical need for diplomacy and unity in the face of regional challenges.

At the conclusion of the session, Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chair of the Mediation and Security Council, Yusuf Tuggar, said the decision of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mail to withdraw from the community has presented yet another challenge, however, members are heartened by the spirit of cooperation to resolve this challenge.

He added that “We must carry forward the momentum generated in this session and continue our efforts to engage with the concerned member states in the spirit of understanding and reconciliation”.

#ECOWAS #BurkinaFaso #Mali #Niger

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🇧🇫 Burkina Faso suspends export permits for small-scale gold production

Burkina Faso's military government has suspended the issuance of export permits for artisanal and semi-mechanised gold and other precious commodities with immediate effect, it said.

"This suspension follows the need to clean up the sector and reflects the government's desire to better organise the marketing of gold and other precious substances," it said in a statement dated February 20.

It did not say how long the suspension would be in place.

Mining groups who have material to export are invited to reach out to the National Society for Precious Commodities (SONAP) for compensation, it added.

Gold is Burkina Faso's main export, accounting for 37% of total exports in 2020, and mining is a leading source of jobs.

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🇲🇱🇧🇫🇳🇪 How the first summit of the Sahel States Alliance went

On July 6, the first summit of the Sahel States Alliance, which unites the anti-Western governments of West Africa, was held in the capital of Niger, Niamey. As a result, steps were taken to create a confederation of the three countries and continue the integration processes.

Earlier, the leaders of the three countries agreed to create a united group of troops to fight terrorism, which they later reinforced with joint cross-border operations. The success in the military sphere was also confirmed at the summit by the intention to create a unified security policy.

❗️Now their most important task is to ensure economic sovereignty.

Serious steps have been taken in this direction: following the summit, a joint investment bank was created. The heads of the three states also reinforced their separation from ECOWAS, despite statements by the President of Senegal to the contrary. Most likely, this is how they announced their course towards abandoning the CFA franc.

There were also intentions to coordinate diplomatic steps and create a single space for the movement of goods and people.

Following the summit, the President of Mali, Assimi Goïta, was elected as the head of the Sahel States Alliance for one year.

🔻In this example, we can see how, with the mediation of Russian military and political specialists, the Sahel countries have embarked on the path of genuine economic sovereignty with the support of Moscow.

At the same time, seeing such determination of the local governments, we should also conduct a more active economic policy in the region with the involvement of Russian business. Because, despite all our military successes, important economic projects still, for some reason, go to the Anglo-Saxons.
#Africa #BurkinaFaso #Mali #Niger
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🇧🇫 Outcry in Burkina Faso after militants kill scores in Barsalogho

One of the worst massacres in Burkina Faso's history has provoked a fierce public outcry from victims' relatives and religious leaders, piling pressure on the government of a country where spiralling insecurity has already stoked coups.

Islamist militants gunned down scores on Aug. 24 as residents of the north-central town of Barsalogho dug defensive trenches on the orders of the army, according to a group of affected families and an eyewitness account.

The ensuing carnage appears to be the deadliest single attack in the West African country since groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State first spread from neighbouring Mali around 2015.

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🇧🇫🇫🇷 Burkina Faso refuses visas to several French diplomats and civil servants

Burkina Faso authorities have refused to issue visas to several French diplomats and civil servants amid a sharp deterioration in bilateral relations.

Also denied entry to the country were the new director of the French school in Ouagadougou and some gendarmes who were supposed to ensure the safety of the French chargé d'affaires in Burkina Faso.

#BurkinaFaso #France

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🇧🇫 Islamist groups escalate attacks on Burkina Faso civilians, HRW says

Jihadist groups in Burkina Faso have escalated attacks on civilians, often in retaliation against communities for refusing to join their ranks or allegedly collaborating with government troops, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

The West African nation has been grappling with Islamist insurgents, most with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, since they spread into its territory from neighbouring Mali almost a decade ago.

Military leader Ibrahim Traore has pushed for civilians to play a role in fighting the insurgency, recruiting thousands of volunteer army auxiliaries known as VDPs and, more recently, requiring civilians to dig defensive trenches.

The jihadists have been retaliating with increasingly deadly attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found.

HRW documented seven jihadist attacks between February and June that led to at least 128 civilian deaths. Insurgents targeted villages, a displaced people's camp and worshippers in a Catholic church.

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🇳🇪🇲🇱🇧🇫 West Africa bloc offers junta-led states six months to rethink exit

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will have a six-month grace period after their scheduled exit from West Africa's main political and economic group next month during which the ECOWAS bloc will try to persuade them to stay.

The summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was seen as a chance to address the impending withdrawal of the three countries on Jan. 29, a year after they jointly announced they would leave in a reversal of decades of regional integration.

ECOWAS has so far failed in its goal to push them to reconsider, while the three countries in the insurgency-torn central Sahel region have set up their own alliance, sought ever-closer alignment in defence and other areas and mooted abandoning the West African currency union.

While Jan. 29 remains the official withdrawal date, the effective date for their departure has been extended to July 29 - a transition period during which mediators from the bloc will seek "to bring the three member countries back to ECOWAS without prejudice," commission president Oumar Touray said at the end of the summit.

#ECOWAS #Mali #BurkinaFaso #Niger

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