Dozens killed in attack by armed groups in Burkina Faso, UN says
At least 40 civilians were killed in an attack on Sunday in Djibo, in northern Burkina Faso, the UN Human Rights Office said Tuesday.
"A large number of Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) fighters attacked a military base, homes and Internally Displaced People's camps in the city Djibo, in the Sahel region, killing at least 40 civilians and injuring more than 42," the UN agency said.
An army detachment in Djibo in northern Burkina Faso was the target of the attack, according to security sources.
"The attack began around 3pm (local time and GMT) on Sunday and was carried out by several hundred armed men who tried in vain to penetrate the (military base)," said the source.
They added that the attackers were hit by army aircraft.
The security source said that the attack was carried out by "several waves of armed groups" for more than three hours.
A follow-up search for the assailant survivors of the attack on Monday "made it possible to neutralise several dozen other terrorists", the source said.
The Burkina Faso Information Agency said "more than 400 terrorists (were) destroyed during the counter-offensive by the Burkinabe Armed Forces against nearly 3,000 criminals who tried to seize the town of Djibo".
I wonder if you can believe that?
The country is battling an insurgency that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015 and has left more than 17,000 civilians and soldiers dead and displaced 2 million people.
Burkina Faso is ruled by a transitional government put in place after a September 2022 coup.
The junta-led government has been conscripting men over 18 for its anti-insurgent fight.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Niger junta revokes law curbing migrant smuggling from Africa to Europe
Niger’s junta has signed a decree revoking a 2015 law that was enacted to curb the smuggling of migrants traveling from African countries through a key migration route in Niger en route to Europe, according to a government circular issued on Monday.
“The convictions pronounced pursuant to said law and their effects shall be cancelled,” Niger’s junta leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, said in a Nov. 25 decree, a copy of which was seen Monday by The Associated Press.
All those convicted under the law would be considered for release by the Ministry of Justice, Ibrahim Jean Etienne, the secretary general of the justice ministry said in the circular.
The revocation of the law adds a new twist to growing political tensions between Niger and EU countries that sanctioned the West African nation in response to the July coup that deposed its democratically elected president and brought the junta into power.
Niger’s Agadez region is a gateway from West Africa to the Sahara and it has been a key route both for Africans trying to reach Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Europe and for those who are returning home with help from the United Nations.
But the route has also become a lucrative place for people smugglers, prompting Niger's government, working with the European Union, to sign the 2015 law to stop the movement of at least 4,000 migrants which the UN estimates travel through Agadez every week without travel documents.
The law empowered security forces and the courts to prosecute smugglers who faced up to five years in prison if convicted.
While the law transformed Niger into a migration hub housing thousands of migrants being returned to their countries, the UN human rights office has also noted that it “led migrants to seek increasingly dangerous migratory routes, leading to increased risks of human rights violations.”
Following the July 26 coup, which deposed Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, Western and European countries suspended aid for health, security and infrastructure needs to the country, which relies heavily on foreign support as one of the least developed nations in the world.
Rather than deter the soldiers who deposed Bazoum, the sanctions have resulted in economic hardship for Nigeriens and emboldened the junta. It has set up a transitional government that could remain in power for up to three years.
(AP)
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