Several hundred women demonstrated on Saturday July 10 in Dori, in northern Burkina Faso, to denounce the insecurity and jihadist violence that undermines their daily lives.
Read also: After his successes, the uncertain future of Barkhane in the Sahel
The demonstrators, mostly dressed in white, carried placards on which one could read: "
We refuse to die in silence
", "
Stop insecurity
" or "
The women of the Sahel are tired of burying their children and their husbands.
".
Wielding brooms, the demonstrators, supported by a few men, marched through the streets of the city of Dori, capital of the Sahel region.
"
More than a month after
the Solhan massacre
, the security situation in our region remains uneasy despite official speeches
," said Aminata Cissé, spokesperson for the Sahel women's collective, at the origin of the demonstration. .
"
We, women of the Sahel, are at their wit's end: we can no longer and will not accept to endure any longer these pains and sufferings which mark in a horrible way the daily experience of the populations of the Sahel in general and that of women in particular.
She said.
To the acclamations, she underlined that the women of Burkina "
want to live finally free of recurring bereavement and widowhood to bear, because of the massacres of their husbands and their children
".
On the night of June 4-5, at least 132 people, according to the government and 160 according to local sources, were killed in the attack on the village of Solhan, near the border with Mali and Niger.
This attack is the deadliest since the start of the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso six years ago, which left more than 1,500 dead and forced a million people to flee their homes.
On July 3 and 4, demonstrations of anger by thousands of Burkinabè against this jihadist violence took place across the country, including the capital Ouagadougou, at the call of the opposition and civil society.
On June 12, several thousand people had already demonstrated in Dori to denounce the “
inaction
” of the authorities, just after the Solhan massacre.