HRW: Burkina trapped between extremists, security forces

HRW: Burkina trapped between extremists, security forces

Villagers in Burkina Faso say they’re caught between the demands of armed extremists and the violence of their own security forces, in a northern Sahel region where more than 150 people have been killed and thousands forced to flee in the past year. That’s according to a Human Rights Watch…

Burkina Faso declares state of emergency in 6 provinces

Authorites in Burkina Faso have declared a state of emergency in six of its 13 provinces, in response to an escalating terrorist threat. President Roch Marc Kaboré announced the decision through his information minister following an emergency meeting with the country’s council of ministers on Monday. The declaration covers four…

Death toll now at 3 in attack on G5 Sahel force HQ in Mali

A revised death toll now stands at three people killed, one a civilian, following the car bomb attack Friday on the G5 Sahel Force headquarters in Mali. The al Qaeda-affiliated militant group JNIM (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims) has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Sévaré, in a…

Terror and targets: What’s behind the Ouagadougou attacks?

The terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou on Friday were by no means the first in Burkina Faso, where people were gunned down in the Aziz Istanbul restaurant while dining in August or died at the Splendid Hotel, a site popular among Westerners that was targeted by car bomb attacks in January…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

Burkina Faso: JNIM claims responsibility for Ouagadougou attack

The al Qaeda-affiliated militant group JNIM (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims) has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attacks in Ouagadougou, in a statement released to a Mauritanian media outlet. The message to Al Akhbar said the separate but simultaneous attacks on Burkina Faso’s military headquarters and the Embassy of…