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Burkina Faso – Mali: Border Region Attacks

Burkina Faso – Mali: Border Region Attacks Seven people, including one fighter, were killed on October 9th in two separate border region attacks blamed on jihadists in Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso, security and government sources said. Three police were killed in western Burkina Faso early on that day when their barracks were attacked by “about 50” assailants, the defence ministry said in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital. A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said the attack had been carried out by “jihadists.” The gendarme brigade in the district of Samorogouan came under pre‐dawn attack, it said in a statement, adding that one of the assailants was killed. A statement signed by general chief of staff General Pingrenoma Zagre said the attacks came around 4 a.m. “when about 50 armed and as yet unidentified men from Burkina's western borders attacked the gendarme brigade at Samorogouan. “This attack killed one assailant and sadly three of our gendarmes,” the statement said. Concurring sources added that a civilian had had his throat slit and a policeman had been abducted. Samorogouan is some 400km northwest of Ouagadougou but only 30km from the border with Mali. General Zarge said he wished “to reassure people that measures will be taken to reinforce their protection and their security,” urging them to inform authorities should they come across any behaviour prompting suspicion. The attack comes on the heels of the abortive coup in Burkina Faso on September 17th (p. 20749) and follows an August 23rd attack by still unidentified assailants on a gendarme brigade on the northern town of Oursi near the borders of both Mali and Niger in which a gendarme and his daughter were injured. Sources in the region say western powers were concerned in the aftermath of the attempted coup that army tensions or absence of strong government could encourage jihadist groups to launch cross‐border strikes. Also on October 9th, three civilians died at Dounapen in Mali, a village in the Mopti region close to the Burkinabe border, where local officials said the assailants had descended by motorbike on the area brandishing black flags. It was unclear whether the attacks, some 500km apart, were directly linked. “Three civilians, including a mayoral assistant, were killed,” on October 9th in the Mopti attack, a Malian security source told AFP , adding an unspecified number of people were injured. A town hall official confirmed this account. One local official said police had given chase to the attackers and impounded seven motorbikes. ( © AFP 9/10 2015) Attack near border p. 20722 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

Burkina Faso – Mali: Border Region Attacks

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2015.06677.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Seven people, including one fighter, were killed on October 9th in two separate border region attacks blamed on jihadists in Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso, security and government sources said. Three police were killed in western Burkina Faso early on that day when their barracks were attacked by “about 50” assailants, the defence ministry said in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital. A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said the attack had been carried out by “jihadists.” The gendarme brigade in the district of Samorogouan came under pre‐dawn attack, it said in a statement, adding that one of the assailants was killed. A statement signed by general chief of staff General Pingrenoma Zagre said the attacks came around 4 a.m. “when about 50 armed and as yet unidentified men from Burkina's western borders attacked the gendarme brigade at Samorogouan. “This attack killed one assailant and sadly three of our gendarmes,” the statement said. Concurring sources added that a civilian had had his throat slit and a policeman had been abducted. Samorogouan is some 400km northwest of Ouagadougou but only 30km from the border with Mali. General Zarge said he wished “to reassure people that measures will be taken to reinforce their protection and their security,” urging them to inform authorities should they come across any behaviour prompting suspicion. The attack comes on the heels of the abortive coup in Burkina Faso on September 17th (p. 20749) and follows an August 23rd attack by still unidentified assailants on a gendarme brigade on the northern town of Oursi near the borders of both Mali and Niger in which a gendarme and his daughter were injured. Sources in the region say western powers were concerned in the aftermath of the attempted coup that army tensions or absence of strong government could encourage jihadist groups to launch cross‐border strikes. Also on October 9th, three civilians died at Dounapen in Mali, a village in the Mopti region close to the Burkinabe border, where local officials said the assailants had descended by motorbike on the area brandishing black flags. It was unclear whether the attacks, some 500km apart, were directly linked. “Three civilians, including a mayoral assistant, were killed,” on October 9th in the Mopti attack, a Malian security source told AFP , adding an unspecified number of people were injured. A town hall official confirmed this account. One local official said police had given chase to the attackers and impounded seven motorbikes. ( © AFP 9/10 2015) Attack near border p. 20722

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Nov 1, 2015

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