...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed....
The rights group further said that the gangs have massacred villagers, displaced people, and Christian worshipers.
They claim the group has killed at least 128 civilians across Burkina Faso since February 2024 in attacks that violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.
The two main Islamic groups linked to al-Qaeda, the Support of Islam and Moslems and the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
control large swathes of land and have been fighting with the Burkina forces since they entered the country in 2016.
''We are witnessing an incredibly concerning surge in Islamist violence in Burkina Faso. The Islamist gangs' massacres of villagers, worshipers, and displaced people are not only war crimes, but a cruel affront to human decency,'' said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. ''The leaders of the Islamist gangs should immediately end these deadly attacks on civilians.''
From May to July, Human Rights Watch interviewed 37 people, including 31 witnesses to attacks on civilians. Human Rights Watch wrote to the Burkina Faso justice minister on June 26 and the country's ambassador to the United States on July 30, sharing research findings and requesting responses to specific questions. The justice minister responded to Human Rights Watch on August 28.
The latest attack saw at least 100 villagers and soldiers killed in central Burkina Faso during a weekend attack on a village by al-Qaeda-linked jihadis in late August.
About half of Burkina Faso is outside of government control as the country has been ravaged by increasing jihadi attacks, encircling the capital. The jihadis linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.
The violence contributed to two coups in 2022. Still, the military junta that promised to end the attacks has struggled to do so, even after seeking new security partnerships with Russia and other junta-led, conflict-hit countries in Africa's Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
.