Recruitment will take place from February 28 to March 7. He “primarily concerns young boys Volunteers for the defense of the homeland (army civilian auxiliaries) meeting the conditions“The young people concerned must in particular be born between January 1, 1988 and December 31, 2003, specified the minister.
Of the thirteen regions of the country, those most targeted by jihadist violence will benefit from a greater number of quotas, in particular the Boucle du Mouhoun in the west (1,000), the Sahel in the north (900) and the region of l East (750).
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Third recruitment campaign
This is the third time in less than a year that the Burkinabè army has organized such a recruitment. In April 2022, 3,000 soldiers, whose age did not exceed 26, had already been recruited. The same procedure was also launched last October.
Burkina Faso, the scene of two military coups in 2022, has been caught in a spiral of jihadist violence since 2015. Appearing in Mali and Niger a few years earlier, it has spread beyond these borders.
In seven years, the violence has left more than 10,000 dead – civilians and soldiers – according to NGOs, and some two million internally displaced persons.
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Captain Ibrahim Traoré, transitional president resulting from a coup d’etat on September 30, 2022, then set himself the objective of “win back“the approximately 40% of Burkinabe territory controlled by jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Shortly after taking power, he launched a campaign to recruit volunteers for the defense of the homeland, who pay a heavy price in the fight against jihadists. Out of an estimated need of 50,000, 90,000 have registered.