Sahel conflict escalating

225

More than 60 civilians died in tit-for-tat clashes between communities in northern Burkina Faso recently, government said, the latest inter-communal violence afflicting West Africa’s Sahel region.

Burkina and neighbouring Mali have seen a spike in ethnic clashes fuelled by Islamist militants seeking to extend influence over the Sahel, an arid region between Africa’s northern Sahara desert and its southern savannas.

Islamist attacks increased in recent months and the violence re-ignited long-standing tensions between communities as certain groups are blamed for collaborating with the jihadists.

New violence arose near Arbinda in Burkina’s Soum province on Sunday when a religious leader and six family members were killed by unidentified armed men, the ruling Movement of People for Progress (MPP) party said in a statement.

“On the morning of April 1, reprisal acts were reported in Arbinda Department. They were directed against a community following the assassination of a religious leader,” MPP spokesman Bindi Ouoba said.

The MPP statement said a royal family was attacked in neighbouring Boulgou province on Sunday, leaving at least nine dead.

Territorial Administration Minister Simeon Sawadogo said on state TV 62 people died in the Arbinda attack.

“Thirty deaths were the result of inter-communal conflicts and 32 people were killed by terrorists,” said Sawadogo, adding militants took nine hostages.

Deteriorating security prompted government to declare a state of emergency in several northern provinces bordering Mali in December. This was extended by six months after jihadists attacked civilians in Soum.

Burkina Faso, previously known for stability in a troubled region, suffered 499 deaths from attacks on civilians between November 2018 and March 23 – a more than 7,000% jump from the same period a year earlier.