An attack that killed hundreds of civilians in Burkina Faso last month highlights the ruling military junta’s inability to contain escalating jihadist violence, experts say.
Junta chief Captain Ibrahim Traore, 36, seized power in the West African country in a 2022 coup, vowing to swiftly regain control over a nation plagued by jihadist armed groups.
Thousands have died and about two million have been displaced by fighting that has raged since 2015, when an insurgency spilled over into Burkina Faso from neighbouring Mali.
“We have the partners we want to work with. We have everything we want to get Burkina out of this situation,” Traore said at the time, promising to make the fight against “terrorism” his priority.
Burkina Faso quickly turned its back on former colonial ruler France, expelling French diplomats and troops deployed in an anti-jihadist military mission.
It has since turned to Russia for military assistance and bolstered ties with Iran and Turkey, as well as neighbours Mali and Niger, ruled by putschists and also embroiled in jihadist violence.
Yet, two years on, the Burkinabe leader has largely fallen short of his promise, security experts say.
Jihadist fighters affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have killed more than 20,000 people since 2015 — including nearly 4,000 this year alone — according to the ACLED analysis group, which tracks conflict.
‘Concealing losses’
The attack in the north-central village of Barsalogho on August 24 was one of the deadliest reported in the country.
Four hundred mostly civilians were killed, according to a collective of victims’ relatives.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) claimed responsibility.
The authorities who say they control 70 percent of the country have for months remained silent about the ongoing attacks by jihadists.
Traore has not commented on the Barsalogho killings. His government has released no official toll, only sending a ministerial and military delegation to the area.
“You cannot lower a fever by breaking the thermometer,” said a security expert who asked not to be named.
The expert said the government preferred to “conceal military and civilian losses” to “promote the army’s prowess against armed groups every evening on television”.
“The population has been put under pressure through taxes towards the war effort, hoping for tangible results given the numerous arms purchases and combat drones,” the expert added.
“If they end up getting gunned down by the hundreds, you have to acknowledge failure.”
Fahiraman Rodrigue Kone, a Sahel specialist at the Institute for Security Studies, said Traore’s promise when he came to power was “made in good faith”.
“But the lack of military equipment was a reality. He must be credited with increasing military capabilities, which should enable the state to respond to violence,” Kone said.
“However, the current threat is rooted in a cluster of problems that a military response alone cannot solve. They include land disputes between farmers and breeders,” he added.
‘Fleeing reality’
Back-to-back coups in Burkina Faso, in January and September 2022, were precipitated by bloody attacks perpetrated by armed groups.
“The Barsalogho attack truly was a wake-up call for the country because of the high toll and security forces’ inability to respond, while the attack happened in the country’s leading military region,” a Western military source said.
“The regime likely fears a repetition despite the many precautions taken in recent months to sideline dissident voices,” the source added.
Under Traore, Burkina has seen a brutal repression campaign, making public criticism a rarity.
The Justice Collective for Barsalogho, representing victims’ families, says the junta chief has personally asked security forces to “mobilise (the) population to dig trenches” in order to protect their villages.
Victims’ families have accused the army of exposing them to their jihadist killers by making them leave their village to dig a trench.
One Barsalogho resident recalled that the president said he had seized power because of previous regimes’ “lack of consideration for human value”.
“What consideration does he think he has for the hundreds of people he sent to the slaughterhouse?” asked the villager.
Just weeks away from the two-year anniversary of his coup, Traore “seems once again to be fleeing reality”, the Western military source said.
“Scapegoats will no doubt be designated and other fires will be lit to create a diversion.”
