Jihadist-plagued Sahel state lifts curfew for first time in five years
Burkina Faso has lifted a curfew that was imposed over five years ago in response to violence driven by militant groups in the country’s east, local media have reported, citing a press release from the regional governor’s office.
The decision to end the measure on Tuesday comes as the military government steps up efforts to combat a jihadist insurgency that has plagued the West African state since 2015.
“The Governor expresses his sincere gratitude to the entire population for their civic spirit, their high sense of patriotism, and their constant commitment during the long period of application of the said measure,” Siaka Ouattara, secretary general for the local authority in Fada-Ngourma, stated on Monday.
The curfew, first implemented in March 2019, had been repeatedly extended to allow the national armed forces to conduct counterterrorism operations aimed at regaining control of territory seized by militants. Early this month, the Burkinabe army reportedly killed several dozen terrorists in offensives in the eastern province, freeing five hostages.
Burkinabe transitional president Ibrahim Traore, in power since September 2022 after leading a coup that ousted his predecessor Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, has declared that he is taking the fight against terrorism head-on. His government has expelled French troops, who had been engaged in an unsuccessful decade-long security mission in the Sahel region.
Last month, Traore said terrorists still control 30% of the country’s territory and vowed to recapture it by 2025. The military leader revealed that he has recruited more than 30,000 people into the army as part of a commitment to defeat rebel groups.
Burkina Faso, along with its allies Mali and Niger, have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to defend each other from internal and external threats. The three military regimes have struck defense deals with Russia to help fight the deadly regional jihadist insurgency. Officials in Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Niamey have repeatedly referred to Moscow as a strategic ally, despite Western opposition to Russia’s growing presence in Africa, particularly the Sahel region.
On Saturday, Burkinabe Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore hailed Russia as a more suitable international partner than the country’s former colonial power, France. He made the statement in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum held at the Sirius Federal Territory near the city of Sochi on the Black Sea coast.
