More than a hundred people, civilians and soldiers, have died in the past two weeks in Burkina, in deadly attacks attributed to jihadists. The latest was on February 17 in the north of the country: 51 soldiers were killed in an ambush, according to the latest report communicated by the army yesterday Monday and widely disseminated by the media. ” The operations are continuing with an intensification of aerial actions which has made it possible to neutralize a hundred terrorists and destroy their equipment, the soldiers specify. This figure is in addition to the sixty terrorists neutralized since the start of the response. »
A challenge for Traoré
This is about ” Captain Traoré’s first real test », comments The Paalga Observer in Ouagadougou. This balance sheet, to be heavy, it is without a doubt. Moreover, it is not yet final, point to the newspaper, and it is to be feared that we are approaching the final count of 70 to 80 martyrs, a count put forward as early as the weekend by certain sources. It is heavy. This is the first slaughter recorded by our Defense and Security Forces since the advent of the MPSRII which brought Captain Ibrahim Traoré to power and which is the first real military test as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. »
Total war!
« My captain-president, start total war ! “, launches for its part the daily Today. « If need be, this new ambush is proof that armed terrorist groups, even weakened by the various security operations carried out across the country, still have a (strong) capacity for nuisance. It comes at a pivotal moment in the fight against terrorism with a general reorganization of troops and volunteers for the defense of the homeland and confirms the significance of the terrorist threat on Burkinabe soil but also in the Sahel. “This drama, continues Today« reminds us that the fight for the reconquest and securing of the national territory will not be a long calm river. To do this, it would be necessary, as President Ibrahim Traoré so aptly put it, to leave the field of retaliations and punctual offensives to trigger the total war which promises to be inevitable. ».
Coming out of isolation
What to do ? For Ledjely in Guinea, neither Burkina Faso nor Mali can overcome the scourge on their own. The insecurity they face and which tends to spread […] requires a concerted response. ECOWAS must get more involved in the fightestimates the Guinean news site. It must make it an objective in its own right, after which it must endeavor to mobilize all those who can help ». Et « Burkina and Mali must also facilitate this contribution from neighborssays Ledjely. For that, we must already come down to earth and abandon the logic of denial of reality on the part of Assimi Goïta and Ibrahim Traoré. The arm wrestling that the two juntas maintain openly or not with certain neighbors does not contribute to the creation of a climate of collaboration. Let the two leaders know in any case that it is useless to want to create tensions outside to hope to hide the lack of result inside. Such a strategy always ends up exploding in the face of the one who abuses it. ».
High inflation but still positive growth
Another difficulty for Burkina Faso: the economic crisis due certainly to insecurity but also to the global crisis. This is what Africa Point. « The pandemic, the war in Ukraine and inflation threaten the purchasing power of Burkinabè. For the State, it is a question of being on all fronts. […] Burkina Faso is also affected by climatic crises characterized by cycles of floods or severe droughts. These are all factors that jeopardize long-term projections and affect people’s daily lives. Especially with double-digit inflation in recent months, estimated at 14.6% on average in 2022. »
Still, growth in Burkina Faso remains positive, again raises Africa Point, even if it is in retreat: 2.7% in 2022 against 6.9% in 2021. The Burkinabè are showing resilience. An economy and a country that bend, but do not break. »