Burkina Faso Capitol Rocked By Simultaneous Attacks

On March 2^nd, seven soldiers and 9 assailants were killed, and 80 civilians were wounded during two simultaneous attacks on the French embassy and a military headquarters in Burkina Faso’s capitol Ouagadougou. While the other was on a military headquarters. The attack was claimed by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin) or JNIM.

The attack began when five gunmen jumped out of a truck in the city center shooting at passersby and then heading toward the French embassy, engaging local guards. No French troops were harmed during the attack.

The second attack took place at a military headquarters approximately 2 km away, and was initiated by a car bomb, followed by four gunmen opening fire on local troops. Victims were killed both on the perimeter as well as inside the premises.

The bombing likely targeted a G5 Sahel meeting being held on the base. G5 Sahel is a French-backed partnership of five countries in the Sahel region of Africa to fight against terrorism, the five countries include Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad.

The Ouagadougou attacks followed French raids in northern Mali carried out in past weeks. On February 14^th a French operation took place killing 20 Jihadists that belonged to JNIM. A senior founder of JNIM Hasan al-Ansari was killed during the operation. JNIM issued a statement claiming the attack as revenge for recent French counterterrorism activity.

There are 4,000 French troops deployed in the region to work with militaries and engage with terrorist fighters. The U.S. has been hesitant to help the G5 Sahel due to their lack of a concrete border strategy but pledged $60 million in support. A 36-country coalition under the auspices of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (UNMISMS) also has 12,000 peace-keeping troops operating in Mali. The G5 Sahel force is pooling 5,000 men whom will become operational in mid-2018 alongside the 4,000 French forces.

G5 was launched in 2014 to develop policies on security matters in West Africa. In February of 2017 leaders of G5 as well as French President Emmanuel Macron decided to establish a joint force known as the G5 Sahel force, whose goal is to fight armed groups and transnational crime.

The G5 have identified three areas where the Sahel force will began operations, the cross border region of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the second being the border between Mali and Mauritania, and lastly on the Niger Chad border where they will focus on combating groups like al-Qaeda and Islamic Maghrib (AQIM).

The estimated annual cost for the G5 Sahel will be $500 million, most of the money supporting the G5 is coming from outside of the region. The five African nations have pledged $57 million and the UN will match that amount while the U.S. has already pledged $60 million, other donors include the EU at 100 million Euros, Saudi Arabia at 100 million euros, and the United Arab Emirates at 30 million euros.

The G5 is an important movement in the Sahel region, many countries in this region have poor national governments, weak borders, wide open areas, and wide spread poverty which terror organizations and criminal networks thrive off. Attacks such as the one that occurred in Burkina Faso will only continue until the terror networks in the region are successfully confronted.