Thousands of people demonstrated Friday in Kaya, capital of the Center-North region of Burkina Faso, to oppose the passage of a large logistics convoy of the French army in transit to neighboring Niger, a- we learned from the organizers and residents.
"
French Army clears
", "
Free the Sahel
", "No
more military convoy of French invasion and recolonization
", could one read on the signs and banners brandished by demonstrators, gathered at the entrance of Kaya, according to reports. photos and videos authenticated by AFP.
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With fists in the air, the demonstrators sang the national anthem in front of the French convoy of several dozen vehicles which was still blocked in Kaya on Friday afternoon, according to the demonstrators.
Coming from Ivory Coast and bound for Niger, the advance of the convoy had already been blocked Wednesday and Thursday by demonstrators in Bobo Dioulasso (west), then in the capital Ouagadougou where the Burkinabé security forces had to use tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, according to Roland Bayala, spokesperson for the Coalition of African Patriots of Burkina Faso (Copa-BF), who called for these demonstrations.
"
We were demonstrating against insecurity, when we learned that from Côte d'Ivoire, a convoy of the French army was to cross Burkina Faso for Niger,
" he said.
"
We have decided to block it, because despite the agreements signed with France, we continue to record deaths and our countries remain under-armed
".
He claimed to have "
called on the populations who are on the route of this convoy to mobilize
" to oppose its passage.
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Last Sunday, a particularly deadly jihadist attack shook the country: at least 53 dead, including 49 gendarmes, were counted in Inata, in the north of the country.
Two days later, several hundred people took part in demonstrations in several cities across the country to demand the resignation of Burkinabè President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré for his "
inability to put an end to the terrorist attacks
".