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First in Burkina Faso, a ” Blood Christmas : one more drama, one too many dramas! exclaims You cut it. Sunday, December 25, reports the newspaper, “ on the RN 4, Fada-Kantchari axis, a public transport minibus hit a mine. The toll is catastrophic: 10 dead, 5 injured, not counting the missing passengers. “. Yet, sighs WakatSéra, lately, the Burkinabè had the impression that they were benefiting from a breath of fresh air, given the recent prowess of the Defense and Security Forces and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland […]. The recapture, in the province of Mouhoun, of Solenzo, a city that remained for many days under the yoke and rule of the terrorists, is, for the moment, the emblematic illustration of this. But facts are stubborn !, point WakatSéra. We have to face the facts: the terrorists who scour Burkina may be stunned and groggy in places, but it must be recognized that they have not abdicated ».
►Also read: In Burkina Faso, at least ten bus passengers killed by the explosion of an artisanal mine
Show of force in northeastern Mali
In Mali, now, ” jihadists show their strength » : this is at least what affirms The World Africa. « On the offensive since March in the Ménaka region and then in that of Gao, in the northeast of the country, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara recently published a video of almost ten minutes showing its capacity of hitting. Hundreds of men armed with assault rifles or rocket launchers in tight ranks, a few pick-ups equipped with heavy machine guns, dozens of motorcycles […]. Proofvalued Le Monde Afrique, that the jihadist movements can now gather their units, normally dispersed in small groups of around thirty fighters, without fear of air strikes. »
Comment from an official French source, quoted by the newspaper: the publicity stunt is successful. As there is no longer any question for us of intervening in Mali, they can now do what they want there. In Barkhane’s time, that would have been impossible. »
Et The World Africa to state further that ” them Malian armed forces and the thousand Russian mercenaries present in the country are not carrying out any major military operation in this area of the North-East ».
Expulsion of the UN coordinator in Burkina Faso
In addition to these security tensions, there are also diplomatic tensions. And we return to Burkina Faso with the recent expulsion by the military authorities of the United Nations coordinator on the spot, Barbara Manzi. The military in power accuse him of having discredited the country by calling for the evacuation of the families of United Nations personnel in Burkina and also of having links with terrorist leaders.
Comment by The Paalga Observer : « this unprecedented incident in the annals of diplomacy in Burkina Faso comes in a context where many of our partners, Western in this case, are no longer in the odor of holiness with a segment of the population and even the highest authorities. (…) All this once morest the backdrop of a gradual rapprochement with Putin’s Russia. […] We have the feeling that Captain Ibrahim Traoré is walking gently, but resolutely in the footsteps of Colonel Assimi Goïta of Mali. »
Another story for The country : « Barbara Manzi herself gave rods to be flogged. Not only because of an attitude that borders on both condescension and contempt, but also because of a collaboration whose frankness is subject to caution. Her expulsion is therefore perceived as a bloodshed commensurate with the grievances she is accused of. From this point of view, the Burkinabè authorities cannot be blamed for having assumed their responsibilities. »
Letting go?
« Mali, Guinea, Burkina… How to get out of the impasse? “, wonders for his part Young Africa. « Faced with the total deadlock of the political situation in Bamako, Conakry and Ouaga, only one solutionsays the Pan-African site: show pragmatism and reach out to the local putschist powers […]. No longer ostracizing the authorities of these three countries, therefore treating them as leaders “normal” by reintegrating Mali, Burkina and Guinea into all the sub-regional bodies, but also by letting go of them locally, by letting them carry out their reforms and more broadly their policy. In short, to reintegrate them into the concert of African nations and to trust them. Not without compensation, still esteem Young Africa. They will finally have to agree to make commitments, or to respect those already made, starting with that of not going beyond 2024 to return power to civilians through free and transparent elections. »
