24 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of Burkina Faso has announced the start of an “exceptional recruitment” of 5,000 soldiers to reinforce efforts against terrorism, just a week after a jihadist attack that resulted in the death of more than 50 soldiers in Ouadalan (north). .
The Burkinabe Ministry of Defense has indicated in a statement that “the populations of cities and villages are informed that an exceptional recruitment of 5,000 soldiers for the Armed Forces will take place throughout the national territory, who will serve at least five years in their military region of recruitment”.
Thus, it has indicated that “this recruitment primarily affects young Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland” who meet certain conditions, including being born between 1988 and 2003, being Burkinabe, “enjoying their physical rights and having good morals ” and “be both medically and physically fit”.
“The selection of candidates will be made based on the registration lists of the commanders of the military regions, with priority given to the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland who operate in the different military regions,” he stressed.
The announcement comes just a few days after the leader of Burkina Faso’s military junta, Ibrahim Traoré, said that his determination to continue the fight against terrorism “until final victory” was “intact” after the attack in Ouadalan. “Homeland or death. We will win,” he stressed.
Burkina Faso, ruled by a military junta since the January 2022 coup against then-president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, has experienced increased insecurity since 2015. The junta is now headed by Traoré, who starred in a September riot that was considered a “palace coup” against the hitherto leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The continuous attacks in the country, carried out by both the Al Qaeda affiliate and the Islamic State affiliate in the region, have also contributed to an increase in inter-communal violence and have caused self-defense groups to flourish, to which the Burkinabe government has added to ‘volunteers’.
