OUAGADOUGOU: Suspected militants in northern Burkina Faso have killed three soldiers and nine civilian auxiliaries, local and security sources said on Friday.
The twin attacks were carried out on Thursday in Bourzanga district, a security source and an official with the VDP auxiliary force said.
The landlocked Sahel state is wrestling with a seven-year-old militant insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and driven some two million people from their homes.
More than 40 percent of the country is no longer under government control, according to official figures.
Colonels staged a coup in January and have vowed to restore security.
But after a lull, attacks resumed and have escalated in recent months.
On June 11, 86 people were massacred at Seytenga in the northwest, in one of the bloodiest acts of the long-running insurgency.
Thirty-four villagers were killed on July 2 and 3 in the north and northwest.
The VDP — Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland — has borne the brunt of attacks on the security forces.
The force, set up in December 2019, comprises civilian volunteers who are given two weeks’ military training and then work alongside the army, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
The VDP source said that in the latest attack, six militiamen were killed at the village of Alga and three at Boulounga, adding that “several attackers were also killed.”
The Seytenga attack prompted the authorities to set up two “zones of military interest” in the worst-hit regions of the north and east.
The idea is to have zones that are banned for civilians, giving the armed forces freer range to attack militants.
But on Wednesday, the army admitted that civilians had killed during an air strike in the east.
It gave no toll, but local inhabitants said that about 30 people, most of them women who had gone to attend ceremonies to inaugurate a mill, had died.
Burkina Faso attacks kill 12 security personnel
https://arab.news/4mkad
Burkina Faso attacks kill 12 security personnel
- Landlocked Sahel state is wrestling with a seven-year-old militant insurgency
- Conflict has claimed thousands of lives and driven some two million people from their homes
Bangladesh votes in world’s first Gen Z-inspired election
- Ousted PM Hasina’s Awami League party banned
- BNP, Jamaat in close race with big economic, geopolitical stakes
DHAKA: For years under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s opposition had little presence on the streets during elections, either boycotting polls or being sidelined by mass arrests of senior leaders. Now, ahead of Thursday’s vote, the roles have reversed.
Hasina’s Awami League is banned, but many young people who helped oust her government in a 2024 uprising say the upcoming vote will be the Muslim-majority nation’s first competitive election since 2009, when she began a 15-year-rule.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely expected to win, although a coalition led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami is putting up a strong challenge. A new party driven by Gen-Z activists under the age of 30 has aligned with Jamaat after failing to translate its anti-Hasina street mobilization into an electoral base.
BNP chief Tarique Rahman told Reuters his party, which is contesting 292 of the 300 parliamentary seats at stake, was confident of winning “enough to form a government.”
Analysts say a decisive result in the February 12 vote, instead of a fractured outcome, is vital for restoring stability in the nation of 175 million after Hasina’s ouster triggered months of unrest and disrupted major industries, including the garments sector in the world’s second-largest exporter.
The verdict will also affect the roles of rival regional heavyweights China and India in the South Asian nation.
“Opinion polls suggest the BNP has an edge, but we must remember that a significant portion of voters are still undecided,” said Parvez Karim Abbasi, executive director at Dhaka’s Center for Governance Studies.
“Several factors will shape the outcome, including how Generation Z — which makes up about a quarter of the electorate — votes, as their choices will carry considerable weight.”
Across Bangladesh, black-and-white posters and banners bearing the BNP’s “sheaf of paddy” symbol and Jamaat’s “scales” hang from poles and trees and are pasted on roadside walls, alongside those of several independent candidates. Party shacks on street corners, draped in their emblems, blare campaign songs.
It marks a sharp contrast with past elections, when the Awami League’s “boat” symbol dominated the landscape.
Opinion polls expect the once-banned Jamaat, which had opposed Bangladesh’s India-backed 1971 independence from Pakistan, to have its best electoral performance even if it does not win.
China’s influence increases as India’s wanes
The election verdict will also influence the roles of China and India in Bangladesh in coming years, analysts have said. Beijing has increased its standing in Bangladesh since Hasina was seen as pro-India and fled to New Delhi after her ouster, where she remains.
While New Delhi’s influence is on the wane, the BNP is seen by some analysts as being relatively more in tune with India than the Jamaat.
A Jamaat-led government might tilt closer to Pakistan, a fellow Muslim-majority nation and a long-standing rival of Hindu-majority India, analysts say. Also, Jamaat’s Gen-Z ally has said “New Delhi’s hegemony” in Bangladesh is one of its main concerns and its leaders met Chinese diplomats recently.
Jamaat, which calls for a society governed by Islamic principles, has said the party is not inclined toward any country.
BNP’s Rahman has said if his party formed the government it would have friendly relations with any nation that “offers what is suitable for my people and my country.”
Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries with high rates of extreme poverty, has been hit by high inflation, weakening reserves and slowing investment, which has pushed it to seek large-scale external financing since 2022, including billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Corruption is the biggest concern among the 128 million voters, followed by inflation, according to a survey by Dhaka-based think tanks Communication & Research Foundation and Bangladesh Election and Public Opinion Studies.
Analysts say Jamaat’s clean image is a factor in its favor, much more than its Islamic leanings.
“Voters report high intention to participate, prioritize corruption and economic concerns over religious or symbolic issues, and express clear expectations for leaders who demonstrate care, competence and accountability,” said the survey.
Nevertheless, BNP’s Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is seen as the frontrunner to lead the next government. But if the Jamaat-led coalition emerges ahead, its chair, Shafiqur Rahman, could be in line for the top job.
Mohammad Rakib, 21, who is set to vote for the first time, said he hoped the next government would allow people to express their views and exercise their franchise freely.
“Everyone was tired of (Hasina’s) Awami League. People couldn’t even vote during national elections. People had no voice,” he said. “I hope the next government, whoever comes into power, will ensure this freedom of expression.”
