Silgadji | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Silgadji Location within Burkina Faso | |
| Coordinates: 13°49′N1°18′W / 13.817°N 1.300°W | |
| Country |  Burkina Faso |
| Region | Sahel |
| Province | Soum |
| Department | Tongomayel |
| Elevation | 323 m (1,062 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 479 m (1,572 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 291 m (955 ft) |
| Population (2012) [3] | |
| • Total | 4,977 |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
Silgadji is a town located in the province of Soum in Burkina Faso. It has a population of 4,977.
The closest international airport to Silgadji is the Ouagadougou Airport located 164 km away. [4]
On 25 January 2020, 39 people were killed in Silgadji by armed jihadists. Victims were told to separate into two groups by gender and then told to "convert to Islam or die". [5] [6] [7]
On 5 September 2022, a bus outside of Silgadji was traveling from Djibo to Ouagadougou when it hit a mine, killing 35 people and injuring 37 others. The victims were mainly traders and students returning to the capital. The perpetrators of the attack are unknown. [8]
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.
On 16 December 2016, several dozen heavily armed gunmen attacked an army outpost in Nassoumbou, Soum Province, Burkina Faso, about 30 kilometres from the border with Mali, leaving at least 12 soldiers dead and 2 others missing. The attack, carried out by about 40 unidentified gunmen riding in pickup trucks and armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, was directed at an army base which was significantly damaged in the assault. The soldiers killed were members of an elite army counterterrorism unit. Billed as "murderous" by President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, this was the second direct attack against the Burkina army since jihadist assailants surfaced in the country in early 2015.
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 Sanmatenga attacks occurred on 8 September 2019 in the Sanmatenga Province, Burkina Faso. In the Barsalogho Department a vehicle transporting people and goods, that was returning from a market, drove over an improvised explosive device (IED). 15 passengers were killed and six were injured in the IED attack. Most of the victims were traders. Meanwhile, around 50 km to the east, a convoy with vans carrying provisions for people displaced by fighting was attacked by gunmen. In this attack, 14 people were killed. It is unknown who carried out this attacks.
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 24 December 2019, a large group of militants on motorcycles attacked civilians and a military base in Arbinda, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. The attack and subsequent battle lasted several hours, resulting in the deaths of 35 civilians, 7 soldiers and 80 attackers. The attack was one of Burkina Faso's deadliest. A 48-hour state of mourning was declared after the attack.
In 2019 there have been many attacks in Burkina Faso on both soldiers and civilians. These are contextualized by the ongoing Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso.
Since 2015, the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has been a hotbed for jihadist forces originating from Mali. The insurgency has taken place in two distinct regions of Niger. In southwest, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Nusrat al-Islam have carried out attacks in the tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Mali. Meanwhile, in the southeast, the Islamic State in the West African Province has established control in parts of southern Niger.
This article lists events from the year 2021 in Niger.
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.
On 25 May 2022, armed assailants suspected to be jihadists attacked the rural locality of Madjoari in the Kompienga Province of Burkina Faso. The massacre left at least 50 civilians dead as they were attempting to flee a blockade. It was the third attack to take place in Madjoari in May 2022, after an attack on 14 May that killed 17 civilians and another on 19 May that killed 11 soldiers.
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.
The siege of Djibo is an ongoing blockade of the city of Djibo in Burkina Faso by several factions of Jihadist Islamist rebels. The siege began in February 2022, and is part of the Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso.
On September 5, 2022, a bus travelling from Djibo to the Burkinabe capital of Ouagadougou hit a mine outside the town of Silgadji, killing 35 people and injured dozens more.
On the night between December 31, 2018, and January 1, 2019, alleged Ansarul Islam jihadists attacked the village of Yirgou, in Barsalogho Department, Burkina Faso. While initial reports claimed the attack killed six people, including the village chief and his son, later reports and investigations showed up to 210 people were killed.
On September 26, 2022, a convoy bound for the besieged city of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso was attacked by armed gunmen, killing 27 soldiers and 10 civilians. The Mali-based jihadist group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Gaskinde attack was a key reason for the September 30 coup in Burkina Faso, as many frontline officers were disgruntled about Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba's handling of the jihadist insurgency.
On October 13, 2022, an IED hit a civilian bus travelling along the Bandiagara-Goundaka highway in rural Mali, killing 10 civilians and injuring dozens more. The attack was alleged to be coordinated by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).
In early April 2023, jihadists killed at least 44 civilians in the towns of Kourakou and Tondobi in Séno Province, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso.
On December 25, 2022, a bus traveling from Fada N'gourma to the trading town of Kantchari hit a landmine near the village of Bougui, Burkina Faso. Ten people were killed and fifteen were injured.
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