How many soldiers and civilians fell under the bullets of jihadists from the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, affiliated with Al-Qaida), Sunday, November 26, in Djibo, one of the main towns in northern Burkina Faso ? In Ouagadougou, the capital, if the head of state, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, recognized "an unprecedented large-scale attack", the extent of the losses has still not been established, giving rise to concerns far and wide. beyond military circles.
At the beginning of Sunday afternoon, the army base located west of Djibo, camps for displaced people and positions held by volunteers for the defense of the fatherland (VDP) – militiamen recruited by the State – were simultaneously stormed by hundreds of armed Islamists, as evidenced by the video published on social networks by the GSIM, which claimed responsibility for the attack. These propaganda images show a camp emptied of its soldiers, burned in places, looted and occupied for a time by jihadists arriving on motorbikes and pick-ups.
A humiliation for the regime of the young putschist captain, in power since September 2022, who is trying as hard as possible to make people believe in a victory over this adversary who, since his first attacks in 2015, has conquered a third of Burkina Faso territory. “Thank God, we inflicted heavy losses,” Captain Taoré swore on October 30 in front of his brothers-in-arms. The Burkina Faso Information Agency came to support his statement, citing a provisional report of “more than 400 terrorists decimated on Sunday during a counter-offensive by the Burkinabé Armed Forces against nearly 3,000 criminals”. A “prowess” according to the official press agency, which the GSIM hastened to deny, recognizing, in a press release published Thursday on the Al-Zallaqa propaganda platform, only “a few dozen” deaths in its ranks as in those of the army.
“Corpses of civilians piled up in the morgue and hospital”
Barely a year after taking power by overthrowing another putschist, Captain Traoré launched a military offensive on the ground against armed Islamists, but especially in the area of communication. “With each major attack, the junta maximizes the losses inflicted on the adversary and minimizes or hides those of its soldiers to protect its power,” denounces a Burkinabe security source, on condition of anonymity. “The day after the attack, the inhabitants of Djibo spent the whole day burying the dead, but no one in the government talks about it,” she says again. A humanitarian working in the north of the country speaks of “many corpses of civilians, piled up in the morgue and hospital” of this city, subject to a jihadist blockade since February 2022. Several local sources also claim that dozens of civilians were killed by army airstrikes in retaliation for the attack. Contacted, the government did not respond to requests from Le Monde.
A rare voice still speaking on site, the UN human rights office on Tuesday estimated the number of GSIM victims at at least 40 people and called on all parties to refrain from "taking to target civilians.” The publication led to Zeinab Hamza Diaby, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Burkina Faso, being summoned by the government two days later. The junta, which had already declared the UN representative persona non grata at the end of 2022, this time invited the United Nations to “give as little space as possible to terrorists”, taking offense at the communication of an assessment since the foreigner, before her.
In Burkina Faso, taking too close an interest in military operations has become dangerous. According to our information, two activists, known on social networks for their disturbing publications against the Burkinabe government, have been arrested in recent days. Security sources fear that they were arrested to be sent to the front. A month earlier, at least a dozen journalists, civil society actors and opponents had been “notified in writing or by telephone (…) that they would be requisitioned to participate in security operations” , as revealed by the NGO Human Rights Watch on November 8.
New Russian ally
Captain Traoré's regime has made the fight against jihadist groups its declared priority and knows that it will be judged by its successes in this area. He himself had justified his September 2022 putsch by the lack of results from his predecessor, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who defeated President Kaboré for the same reasons.
These two coups took place the day after major terrorist attacks. “Traoré knows that if the very heavy toll and the details of the attack on Djibo were revealed with precision, it could give ideas to another soldier. This is why we see this whole propaganda machine actively working to cover up the incident,” analyzes a West African security source.
When it comes to propaganda, Captain Traoré, who claims to have foiled several coup attempts, knows that he can count on the expertise of his new Russian ally. The young putschist was one of the most prominent figures at the St. Petersburg summit in July. Since then, Russian officers have traveled to Ouagadaougou. Cooperation on all levels is strengthening between the two countries, while rumors are growing about the discreet presence of Wagner's Russian mercenaries in Burkina. In the wake of the Djibo attack, posters designating in particular the “complicity of the international community” during the assault were distributed by CCB News, a fake media outlet linked to the Pan-African Group for Trade and Investment (GPCI). ), a disinformation network close to Wagner.
