Inata, Burkina Faso | |
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Coordinates: 14°20′12.8″N1°19′30.7″W / 14.336889°N 1.325194°W | |
Country | Burkina Faso |
Province | Soum |
Inata is a town in Soum Province, Burkina Faso. Inata is well known for its gold mine. [1]
In 2018, the mine and military base in Inata was attacked by Ansarul Islam, but the attack was repelled by French and Burkinabe forces. Three workers at the local gold mine, including two foreigners, were kidnapped in September 2018 by jihadist fighters. Both were eventually released in 2019. [2]
It became famous for an attack on November 14, 2021 that killed 53 gendarmes and four civilians. The attack was one of the influencing factors in the January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état. [3]
Burkina Faso, officially the People's Republic of Burkina Faso, is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2. In 2021, the country had an estimated population of approximately 23,674,480. Previously called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by former president Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
The Burkina Faso Armed Forces is the term used for the national military of Burkina Faso. The service branches of the armed forces include its Army, Air Force, National Gendarmerie and People's Militia. Being a landlocked country, Burkina Faso has no navy.
Djibo is a town in northern Burkina Faso and the capital city of Soum Province. It is situated 203 km (126 mi) north of Ouagadougou and 45 km (28 mi) from the border with Mali. It was founded in the 16th century and became the capital of Djilgodji, before becoming dominated by the Messina Empire in the 19th century. It is known for its animal market. The main ethnic group is the Fulani.
Gold Mining often plays a significant role in Burkina Faso’s economy. Burkina Faso has become Africa's 4th biggest producer of gold in 2012. Production of mineral commodities is limited to cement, dolomite, gold, granite, marble, phosphate rock, pumice, other volcanic materials, and salt.
Avocet Mining plc is a West African-focussed gold mining and exploration company with its primary operations in Burkina Faso and Guinea. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Oslo Børs.
Terrorism in Burkina Faso refers to non-state actor violence in Burkina Faso carried out with the intent of causing fear and spreading extremist ideology. Terrorist activity primarily involves religious terrorism conducted by foreign-based organizations, although some activity occurs because of communal frustration over the lack of economic development. Recent attacks have concentrated in the Hauts-Bassins, Boucle du Mouhoun, Nord, Sahel, and Est regions, along the border with Mali and Niger. A series of attacks in Ouagadougou in 2016, 2017, and 2018 by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliates garnered international attention.
The Dolmané gold mine attack occurred on 4 October 2019 near Madouji, Arbinda Department, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. The Dolmané gold mining site was attacked by suspected Islamic terrorists. The attack took place not far from where a bridge linking two northern towns was blown up in mid-September. At least 20 persons, mostly people that worked in the gold mine, were killed and an unknown number of people were injured. Both Islamic State and al-Qaeda have affiliated groups in the region. It is unknown which of the two was responsible for this attack.
On 6 November 2019, gunmen ambushed a convoy transporting workers of the Canadian mining firm Semafo near the city of Fada N’Gourma, on a road to the firm's Boungou mine. At least 37 people were killed, and dozens more are missing or injured.
An ongoing war and civil conflict between the Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels began in August 2015 and has led to the displacement of over 2 million people and the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians and combatants.
Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is a Burkinabè military officer who served as interim president of Burkina Faso from 31 January 2022 to 30 September 2022, when he was removed in a coup d'état by his own military colleague Ibrahim Traoré. Damiba had come to power just eight months earlier, on 24 January 2022, when he removed president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in a coup.
An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.
Ibrahim Traoré is a Burkinabè military officer who has been the interim leader of Burkina Faso since the September 2022 coup d'état that ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. At age 36, Traoré is currently the youngest serving state leader in the world, and the youngest serving president.
On August 4, 2022, jihadist militants ambushed a counter-terrorism operation organized by the Burkina Faso Armed Forces, killing four civilians and nine VDP militiamen. The Burkinabe government claimed that thirty-four insurgents were killed immediately after the attack.
The Ouahigouya ambush took place near Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso, between February 7 and 8, 2022. French forces launched an airstrike on Ansar ul Islam militants responsible for the November Inata attack that killed dozens of Burkinabe police officers.
Houndé Mine is a gold mine located in the city of Houndé, Burkina Faso. The mine is 90% owned by Endeavour Mining, and 10% owned by the Government of Burkina Faso. According to Endeavour Mining, the Houndé Mine employs approximately 1,860 people. It is the company's second-biggest gold mine, and accounted for nearly 30% of gold produced by Endeavour Mining in 2023.
The 2018 Inata attack occurred between October 3 and 4, 2018, when suspected militants from Ansarul Islam attacked the gold mines near Inata, Burkina Faso, but were repulsed by Burkinabe forces.
On November 14, 2021, jihadists from Ansarul Islam and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin attacked the mining town of Inata, Burkina Faso, the last place in Djibo Department under Burkinabe government control at the time of the attack. The Burkinabe outpost in Inata was overrun and over fifty soldiers were killed. The attack was the deadliest ambush against Burkinabe forces since the start of the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso in 2015, and was a primary reason for the January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état.
On December 23, 2021, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and Ansarul Islam attacked Burkinabe forces in Titao, Loroum Province, Burkina Faso, killing 41 soldiers. The attack was one of the deadliest attacks against Burkinabe soldiers in the country's history, and occurred just over a month after an attack on Inata killed over fifty soldiers. News of the attack sparked protests across Burkina Faso.