The sports category has moved to a new website.
ADVERTISEMENT

Burkina army says it has destroyed two jihadist 'bases'

Burkina Faso’s security forces said on Tuesday they had destroyed two jihadist bases in the north and east of the country and arrested two suspects near the border with the Ivory Coast.

Burkina Faso's armed forces, pictured during training, have carried out security sweeps in an attempt to stem jihadist violence

A gendarmerie unit on Saturday "dismantled a terrorist base" near the eastern town of Tanwalbougou, the armed forces chief of staff said in a weekly bulletin.

In a separate operation in the north of the country, Burkinabe troops in the five-nation G5 Sahel force, supported by a company of soldiers from Niger, destroyed a terrorist base on Saturday in a drilling zone 40 kms from Oursi, it said. Eight motorbikes, phones and other equipment were seized.

Meanwhile, two "suspects" were picked up in a joint operation with Ivorian forces to secure the two countries' 550-kilometre (340-mile) border, it said.

The operation "considerably disrupted armed groups in the area," the statement said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The arrests near Alidougou on Saturday were made not far from where around 10 Ivorian soldiers were killed in a jihadist attack on a frontier post on June 11.

Ivory Coast said Monday it had captured the leader of the raid and arrested a "very large" number of his subordinates.

That attack was carried out by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), an organisation linked to Al-Qaeda, according to a source in Burkina Faso.

Security analysts have long worried that a jihadist revolt in the Sahel that began in Mali in 2012 is spreading towards coastal states on the Gulf of Guinea.

Burkina Faso has been the scene of jihadist attacks since 2015. The north and east of the country are the regions most affected by jihadist violence which has claimed nearly 1,000 lives and forced 860,000 people from their homes over the past five years.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jihadist violence, often intertwined with inter-communal violence, resulted in 4,000 deaths in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in 2019, according to the UN.

ab/de/erc/ri

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: news@pulselive.co.ke

Recommended articles

Marianne Kitany tactfully speaks on whether Ruto should fire her ex, CS Linturi

Marianne Kitany tactfully speaks on whether Ruto should fire her ex, CS Linturi

Gov't & opposition officials clash at Rita Tinina's burial ceremony

Gov't & opposition officials clash at Rita Tinina's burial ceremony

CS Murkomen unveils new number plates for cars that will get preferential treatment

CS Murkomen unveils new number plates for cars that will get preferential treatment

Moi University students escape through windows after road crash

Moi University students escape through windows after road crash

57,000 civil servants to have their rent reviewed upwards

57,000 civil servants to have their rent reviewed upwards

Interesting story of U.S. Army Specialist Wambui who comes from a military family

Interesting story of U.S. Army Specialist Wambui who comes from a military family

Heroic GSU officer dies after jumping out of a taxi along Thika Super Highway

Heroic GSU officer dies after jumping out of a taxi along Thika Super Highway

DJ Joe Mfalme detained for 14 more days

DJ Joe Mfalme detained for 14 more days

Explosive blows up hotel next to police station, deaths reported

Explosive blows up hotel next to police station, deaths reported

ADVERTISEMENT