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The loss of life toll from a jihadi assault on a Burkina Faso military unit within the north of the nation final week has risen to 51, army officers mentioned Monday, after 43 new our bodies had been discovered.
The military unit was ambushed within the Sahel area’s Oudalan province, between the cities of Deou and Oursi, the Burkinabe army mentioned Monday. Reinforcements have been despatched to the realm and an unspecified variety of wounded have been taken to hospital.
The West African nation has been wracked for seven years by violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, which has killed hundreds, displaced almost 2 million individuals and precipitated a humanitarian disaster.
Successive governments’ failure to successfully deal with the issue led to 2 coups final yr, with every army chief vowing to stem assaults and safe the nation, albeit with little success.
Final week’s assault got here whereas some 400 French particular forces troopers had been leaving Burkina Faso, one month after the junta authorities ordered them out — following within the path of neighbouring Mali, which can be dominated by a army dictatorship.
Whereas the variety of French troops in Burkina Faso was far smaller than in Mali, their departure provides to rising considerations that Islamic extremists are capitalising on the political disarray and utilizing it to develop their attain.
Analysts have questioned whether or not the international locations’ militaries are able to filling the void.
“The wrestle for state forces to keep away from lethal assaults, particularly such an ambush towards convoys, is a serious concern because it comes at a time the place the state is making an attempt to claim its presence and chase jihadists out from areas they management,” mentioned Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow on the Coverage Heart for the New South, a Moroccan-based suppose tank.
“If convoys are repeatedly focused, recovering territories and offering safety for civilians goes to take a really very long time and going to be lethal,” Lyammouri added.
(AP)
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