Several hundred people demonstrated on Saturday in Djibo and Kongoussi, two major towns in northern Burkina Faso, plagued by violence and a blockade by jihadist groups, to demand supplies and more security, residents reported. AFP.
At the call of the association of young traders in Djibo, capital of the province of Soum (north), "
hundreds of people came out en masse to ask for supplies for the city, and to show support for the defense forces. and security which favored the return of the telephone network, cut for several weeks
, ”Ousmane Diallo, one of the demonstrators, told AFP.
"
The city has not been supplied for several weeks
," he added.
“
It was a peaceful demonstration that went well.
We reiterated our total support for the defense and security forces, while inviting them to work hard for supplies because famine is threatening many inhabitants
,” said Ali Barry, another demonstrator.
Nearly two million people have been forced to flee jihadist violence in their localities in Burkina Faso, to other cities in the country.
Djibo is the first municipality to receive people with about 14% of this number.
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On the same Saturday morning, hundreds of people also demonstrated in Kongoussi, in the neighboring province of Bam, to demand "
more security
".
“
Today, Kongoussi looked like a ghost town.
All the shops were closed and the inhabitants gathered for the demonstration
,” Prosper Ouedraogo, another resident, told AFP.
These demonstrations come two days after a series of attacks which affected several localities in the north and north-west of the country, killing around thirty civilians, including around fifteen Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), the civilian auxiliaries of the Army.
One of these attacks, which took place in Bam province, “
shocked many people and this mobilization was like a wake-up call to the threat hanging over the province
,” said Prosper Ouedraogo.
Burkina Faso, particularly in its northern half, has been confronted since 2015 with increasing attacks by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
They caused thousands of deaths.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, transitional president resulting from a military coup on September 30 - the second in eight months - has set himself the objective of "
recapturing the territory occupied by these hordes of terrorists
".
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