Burkina Faso, a country besieged by Islamist armed groups and by hunger and from where thousands are fleeing to seek safety

ROME – Armed Islamist groups in Burkina Faso have killed dozens of civilians, looted and burned homes and land, forced thousands to flee: analysis by Human Rights Watch (HRW) sheds light on the political and social situation of one of the most unstable countries in the world, the new pivot of the Sahel crisis. One of the most stable and peaceful African national communities is today going through an unprecedented crisis. The violence comes from Mali and the – atavistic – clashes between farmers and shepherds fuel equally atavistic ethnic friction. Without considering the tensions and social and migratory ferments linked to climate change. Here: all this has transformed one of the most peaceful countries in the Sahelian area into a sort of loose cannon, close to explosion.

The political situation. In April 2023, the transitional military government of Burkina Faso, born in October 2022, announced a general mobilization to reconquer the territory lost due to attacks by Islamist armed groups. All Ouagadougou governments since 2015 have had to deal with the Islamist insurgency from neighboring Mali, which has displaced over two million to date. Fighting has escalated in recent years to the point that the Economic Community of West African States believes that Al-Qaeda, together with Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims) and , to a lesser extent, the Islamic State, control up to 40 percent of the territory of Burkina Faso. There have been two coups d’état in the country since 2022, determined precisely by the need to recover control of the territory. The authorities have recruited 50,000 civilian auxiliaries, the so-called Homeland Defense Volunteers, to strengthen the army. But the response of the Islamist armed groups was not long in coming: the fighters attacked all the villages accused of supporting the militias and forced people to flee.

The testimonials. A 46-year-old man told HRW that Islamists killed 12 men in Dassa village on 26 January, allegedly in retaliation for militia recruitment in the area. A 27-year-old girl said armed fighters, riding motorcycles and carrying bullet belts, stormed her village, Zincko, on Jan. 4 and gave residents 48 hours to flee. . In areas of the Sahel and in eastern Burkina Faso, however, armed Islamist groups have besieged several cities and blocked the arrival of food and humanitarian aid, causing hunger and disease among the residents and the displaced. Some local families in the Djibo region of the Sahel said they fed their children for days only with boiled wild leaves. The organization also documented abuses by armed groups, including summary executions, rape, kidnappings and looting. Unfortunately, the militias often responded to so much violence with just as much abuse. According to sources interviewed on the ground, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland and the army have in turn kidnapped and killed dozens of civilians.

The difficulty of living. The attacks have now become so frequent that people in the country cannot move freely, not even to buy water, food or medicine. Prices have increased a lot, also due to the war in Ukraine, complicating an already serious situation. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which provides early warning and analysis on acute food insecurity, reported that the price of millet in Djibo area – one of the most exposed to jihadist attacks – has increased by more than 500 percent since 2022 and Djibo is on the brink of the famine. “I have nothing but leaves to feed my children. We can’t cultivate our fields, we can’t escape, we live like prisoners,” said a woman who has five children, four of whom are disabled. Doctors Without Borders he said that at the beginning of May of the 300,000 inhabitants of Djibo, nearly 270,000 were displaced, half of whom are children living in camps or with host families. Displaced communities depend on humanitarian assistance, which is currently having difficulty reaching areas besieged by Islamists. As of October 2022, the only food consumed by Djibo residents has been wild leaves.