Silgadji bus bombing | |
---|---|
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso | |
Location | near Silgadji, Burkina Faso |
Date | September 5, 2022 |
Deaths | 35 |
Injured | 37 |
Perpetrator | Unknown jihadist group |
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.
Since 2015, northern Burkina Faso has been the hotbed of a jihadist insurgency, with much of the countryside being controlled by Islamist militants like Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. [1] Throughout the years of fighting, key roads linking major cities have been mined by both the Burkinabe military and the jihadist groups, posing a major threat to civilians. [2] The road between Djibo and Ouagadougou has especially been a target of mining since early 2022, when jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin began a campaign to besiege the city. [3] In August, a bombing and ambush on the road led to the death of 15 Burkinabe soldiers.
On September 5, the Burkinabe government launched a supply convoy to relieve civilians and soldiers at the ongoing siege of Djibo. One of the vehicles in the convoy, according to Sahel Region governor Rodolphe Sorgho, was carrying civilians at the time of the bombing. [4] The convoy was bombed in between Djibo and the town of Bourzanga, in particular near the town of Silgadji. [5] An anonymous resident of Silgadji speaking to AFP claimed many of the civilians were merchants looking to buy supplies and students returning to Ouagadougou for school. [5]
After the attack, the Burkinabe government claimed to have secured the area around the road. [6]
Operation Barkhane was a counterinsurgency operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region and consisted of a roughly 3,000-strong French force, which was permanently headquartered in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. The operation was led in co-operation with five countries, all of which are former French colonies that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Mali was a part of the operation until August 2022. The countries are collectively referred to as the "G5 Sahel". The operation was named after a crescent-shaped dune type that is common in the Sahara desert.
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.
Events in the year 2021 in Mali.
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.
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.
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.
On August 9, 2022, two bombings in Namssiguia, Bam Province, Burkina Faso killed 15 Burkinabe soldiers and injured an unknown number of others.
A coup d'état took place in Burkina Faso on 30 September 2022, removing Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba over his alleged inability to deal with the country's Islamist insurgency. Damiba had come to power in a coup d'état eight months earlier. Captain Ibrahim Traoré took over as interim leader.
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 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.
Silgadji is a town located in the province of Soum in Burkina Faso. It has a population of 4,977.
On October 29, 2022, gunmen from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin ambushed a convoy of Burkinabé soldiers near the village of Kikideni while they were on their way from Fada N'gourma to Natiaboani, Est Region, Burkina Faso.
On January 28, 2023, suspected Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin militants stopped two buses headed from Banfora to Mangodara near the village of Linguekoro, Comoé Province, Burkina Faso, and killed fifteen passengers.
The Toeni bus bombing occurred when a school bus drove over an improvised explosive device in Toeni, Burkina Faso, killing fourteen people and injuring nine others on January 4, 2020.
Between November 2019 and June 2020, the bodies of over 180 civilians were discovered in and around the city of Djibo, Burkina Faso. Most of the killings targeted Fulani, and were committed by Burkinabe Armed Forces, Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), and Defense and Security Forces (FDS). Several mass graves were made for the victims in March and April 2020.