More than 700 people who have fled jihadist violence in northern Burkina Faso have fallen ill with hepatitis E, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Friday.

The outbreak in the small town of Barsalogho began in June, MSF said in a statement.

The town and its surrounding region host more than 270,000 people displaced by a more-than five-year campaign of violence by jihadists from neighbouring Mali.

Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by a virus transmitted through poor sanitation -- the so-called faecal-oral route.

MSF said the UN's World Health Organization had recommended a hepatitis E vaccine for outbreaks such as this, but the formula had not been approved by the Burkinabe authorities, and there was little current production of it.

"Long-term investment in water, sanitation and hygiene" are the key to mastering outbreaks of water-borne diseases, it said.

One of the poorest countries of the world, Burkina has suffered more than 1,200 deaths since the jihadist campaign in the Sahel erupted on its soil in 2015, while more than a million people are displaced.

More than 700 people who have fled jihadist violence in northern Burkina Faso have fallen ill with hepatitis E, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Friday. The outbreak in the small town of Barsalogho began in June, MSF said in a statement.

More than 700 people who have fled jihadist violence in northern Burkina Faso have fallen ill with hepatitis E, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Friday. The outbreak in the small town of Barsalogho began in June, MSF said in a statement. The town and its surrounding region host more than 270,000 people displaced by a more-than five-year campaign of violence by jihadists from neighbouring Mali. Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by a virus transmitted through poor sanitation -- the so-called faecal-oral route. MSF said the UN's World Health Organization had recommended a hepatitis E vaccine for outbreaks such as this, but the formula had not been approved by the Burkinabe authorities, and there was little current production of it. "Long-term investment in water, sanitation and hygiene" are the key to mastering outbreaks of water-borne diseases, it said. One of the poorest countries of the world, Burkina has suffered more than 1,200 deaths since the jihadist campaign in the Sahel erupted on its soil in 2015, while more than a million people are displaced.

Hepatitis strikes hundreds of displaced in Burkina Faso

It has been a violent and bloody start to the New Year in Mali as on January 2&nbsp;two French soldiers were killed in Mali after an explosive device hit their vehicle. Just days before that&nbsp;on December 29, three French soldiers had been killed in a similar fashion.

Al-Qaeda linked groups claimed responsibility for both the attacks. The deaths of the French soldiers have sparked an outpouring of anger back home in France.

Why is the French military present in Mali at all?&nbsp;

The Sahel region is a vast area of inhospitable desert with porous borders, semi-arid land and jihadist attacks.

Geographically, it comprises Senegal from the west to parts of Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger. In recent years, the Sahel has been in the global spotlight for religious terrorism, arms and drug trafficking and even famine.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/bomb-kills-two-french-soldiers-in-mali-354112">Bomb kills two French soldiers in Mali</a>

Since 2012, Mali has faced a series of violent conflicts. The French intervened and dislodged jihadist groups from Mali's cities but could not manage to eliminate them.

The French intervention was part of "Operation Barkhane". Under this operation, France has deployed around 5,000 troops to the Sahel region who are&nbsp;spread out between Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.&nbsp;They engage in everything from combat patrols to intelligence gathering.

In 2017, they launched the G5 Sahel joint counter-terrorism force. Its mandate is to combat terrorism and organised crime in the Sahel area. It is France's largest overseas operation, with a budget of nearly 600 million euros per year. France maintains that Barkhane’s priority is to kill top jihadist leaders. However,&nbsp;in the last seven years, at least 50 soldiers have been killed and France's defence minister has conceded that security conditions in the area remain difficult.

Terrorist groups resort to guerrilla warfare and with five French soldiers killed within a span of a week,&nbsp;France is reconsidering its role in the region. It does not help that the deaths have sparked outrage in France.

"It was an explosive device with a vehicle that should no longer be used in the french army, but which is still in use, and the last deaths in recent times have been because of these vehicles, it's a bit of a pity, we have a bit of a feeling that our leaders are not doing what is necessary to change this," a student, former soldier in Mali said.

However, France has maintained that the Barkhane forces have achieved major military success and neutralised several senior members of the Al-Qaeda and affiliated terror groups.

Paris says it will reconsider its military strategy in the Sahel region and is likely to reduce military deployment. The final decision will be made at the next joint summit of the G5 Sahel countries in February.

Lack of funds and training have left the G5 countries largely dependent on France. It's a catch 22 situation — if France pulls out, the fragile peace in the Sahel area might collapse. However,&nbsp;if France stays, it may be stuck in a never-ending war.

It has been a violent and bloody start to the New Year in Mali as on January 2 two French soldiers were killed in Mali after an explosive device hit their vehicle.

It has been a violent and bloody start to the New Year in Mali as on January 2 two French soldiers were killed in Mali after an explosive device hit their vehicle. Just days before that on December 29, three French soldiers had been killed in a similar fashion. Al-Qaeda linked groups claimed responsibility for both the attacks. The deaths of the French soldiers have sparked an outpouring of anger back home in France. Why is the French military present in Mali at all? The Sahel region is a vast area of inhospitable desert with porous borders, semi-arid land and jihadist attacks. Geographically, it comprises Senegal from the west to parts of Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger. In recent years, the Sahel has been in the global spotlight for religious terrorism, arms and drug trafficking and even famine. Also read| Bomb kills two French soldiers in Mali Since 2012, Mali has faced a series of violent conflicts. The French intervened and dislodged jihadist groups from Mali's cities but could not manage to eliminate them. The French intervention was part of "Operation Barkhane". Under this operation, France has deployed around 5,000 troops to the Sahel region who are spread out between Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. They engage in everything from combat patrols to intelligence gathering. In 2017, they launched the G5 Sahel joint counter-terrorism force. Its mandate is to combat terrorism and organised crime in the Sahel area. It is France's largest overseas operation, with a budget of nearly 600 million euros per year. France maintains that Barkhane’s priority is to kill top jihadist leaders. However, in the last seven years, at least 50 soldiers have been killed and France's defence minister has conceded that security conditions in the area remain difficult. Terrorist groups resort to guerrilla warfare and with five French soldiers killed within a span of a week, France is reconsidering its role in the region. It does not help that the deaths have sparked outrage in France. "It was an explosive device with a vehicle that should no longer be used in the french army, but which is still in use, and the last deaths in recent times have been because of these vehicles, it's a bit of a pity, we have a bit of a feeling that our leaders are not doing what is necessary to change this," a student, former soldier in Mali said. However, France has maintained that the Barkhane forces have achieved major military success and neutralised several senior members of the Al-Qaeda and affiliated terror groups. Paris says it will reconsider its military strategy in the Sahel region and is likely to reduce military deployment. The final decision will be made at the next joint summit of the G5 Sahel countries in February. Lack of funds and training have left the G5 countries largely dependent on France. It's a catch 22 situation — if France pulls out, the fragile peace in the Sahel area might collapse. However, if France stays, it may be stuck in a never-ending war.

French troops face grim reality in Mali

Habibou Sore had to pause for breath as she ran barefoot from the approaching gunmen. She was pregnant with twins, due any day.

Soon after arriving at a nearby town in northern Burkina Faso, her feet cut and swollen, Sore gave birth. Then her battle with hunger began.

Attacks by Islamist groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State have killed thousands of people this year in Africa`s Sahel region, an arid belt to the south of the Sahara Desert.

The escalating bloodshed has worsened food shortages that threaten millions in a region already hit by climate change, poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sixteen months after fleeing her village, Sore lives with relatives in the town of Pisilla and eats one small meal a day.

Her twin sons Hassan and Housein each weigh 7 kg (15.5 pounds), the equivalent of a healthy 4-month-old. Their bony legs are covered in sores, their scalps bare in patches. They scream for the milk their mother cannot provide.

"I am worried about them," Sore said, as she rocked the boys on her lap in a clinic in the town of Kaya, surrounded by paintings showing mothers how to breastfeed and the foods required for a balanced diet. "They are not doing well."

Over 7 million people face acute hunger in a vast area comprising landlocked Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, as armed groups cut off access to supplies and farmland, figures from the United Nations` World Food Programme (WFP) show.

Burkina Faso is deteriorating fastest. Over half a million children under 5 are acutely malnourished, U.N. figures show.

WFP said in October that over 10,000 people were "one step short of famine".

"This year has been worse than anything we have seen in the last decade, a worsening situation that is obviously connected to growing conflicts," said Christelle Hure, spokeswoman for the Oslo-based Norwegian Refugee Council, which offers shelter for the displaced.

`GREAT LOSS`

This summer`s rainy season was one of the heaviest in years, bringing life to the hilly northern savannah where neem, eucalyptus and acacia trees tower over a sea of waist-high golden grass. Farmers say the conditions are perfect for crops and cattle - if only they could reach them.

Sayouba Zabre should be harvesting 10 hectares of millet and sorghum and tending dozens of cattle near his hometown in the Soum region. Instead he is in a camp for displaced people in the Center-North region after fleeing an attack this year.

Camp residents collect wood and dry hibiscus pods on the roofs of their makeshift tents - anything to make money. Zabre planted millet and peanuts, but it is not enough to feed his family.

"This is a great loss. There is a lot out there this year," he said, referring to his farm. "I should be there."

Many citizens rely on food from aid agencies that cannot reach some of the worst-hit areas.

Twice this year, food deliveries were hijacked, said Antoine Renard, WFP`s country director in Burkina Faso.

Dozens of health facilities have closed and about 200 others are operating at minimum staff levels, government figures show.

Malnutrition is overwhelming the clinic in Kaya where Sore took her twins. Before the crisis, it had about 30 child patients. Now it has 500.

"Every day we take children, every day we have severe cases," said midwife Aminata Zabre.

Mothers come regularly for sachets of baby food, though sometimes there is little improvement.

"I asked one woman `why is your child still coming to us?`," Zabre said. "She told me her father-in-law was eating the child`s rations."

Habibou Sore had to pause for breath as she ran barefoot from the approaching gunmen. She was pregnant with twins, due any day. Soon after arriving at a nearby town in northern Burkina Faso, her feet cut and swollen, Sore gave birth.

Habibou Sore had to pause for breath as she ran barefoot from the approaching gunmen. She was pregnant with twins, due any day. Soon after arriving at a nearby town in northern Burkina Faso, her feet cut and swollen, Sore gave birth. Then her battle with hunger began. Attacks by Islamist groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State have killed thousands of people this year in Africa`s Sahel region, an arid belt to the south of the Sahara Desert. The escalating bloodshed has worsened food shortages that threaten millions in a region already hit by climate change, poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen months after fleeing her village, Sore lives with relatives in the town of Pisilla and eats one small meal a day. Her twin sons Hassan and Housein each weigh 7 kg (15.5 pounds), the equivalent of a healthy 4-month-old. Their bony legs are covered in sores, their scalps bare in patches. They scream for the milk their mother cannot provide. "I am worried about them," Sore said, as she rocked the boys on her lap in a clinic in the town of Kaya, surrounded by paintings showing mothers how to breastfeed and the foods required for a balanced diet. "They are not doing well." Over 7 million people face acute hunger in a vast area comprising landlocked Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, as armed groups cut off access to supplies and farmland, figures from the United Nations` World Food Programme (WFP) show. Burkina Faso is deteriorating fastest. Over half a million children under 5 are acutely malnourished, U.N. figures show. WFP said in October that over 10,000 people were "one step short of famine". "This year has been worse than anything we have seen in the last decade, a worsening situation that is obviously connected to growing conflicts," said Christelle Hure, spokeswoman for the Oslo-based Norwegian Refugee Council, which offers shelter for the displaced. `GREAT LOSS` This summer`s rainy season was one of the heaviest in years, bringing life to the hilly northern savannah where neem, eucalyptus and acacia trees tower over a sea of waist-high golden grass. Farmers say the conditions are perfect for crops and cattle - if only they could reach them. Sayouba Zabre should be harvesting 10 hectares of millet and sorghum and tending dozens of cattle near his hometown in the Soum region. Instead he is in a camp for displaced people in the Center-North region after fleeing an attack this year. Camp residents collect wood and dry hibiscus pods on the roofs of their makeshift tents - anything to make money. Zabre planted millet and peanuts, but it is not enough to feed his family. "This is a great loss. There is a lot out there this year," he said, referring to his farm. "I should be there." Many citizens rely on food from aid agencies that cannot reach some of the worst-hit areas. Twice this year, food deliveries were hijacked, said Antoine Renard, WFP`s country director in Burkina Faso. Dozens of health facilities have closed and about 200 others are operating at minimum staff levels, government figures show. Malnutrition is overwhelming the clinic in Kaya where Sore took her twins. Before the crisis, it had about 30 child patients. Now it has 500. "Every day we take children, every day we have severe cases," said midwife Aminata Zabre. Mothers come regularly for sachets of baby food, though sometimes there is little improvement. "I asked one woman `why is your child still coming to us?`," Zabre said. "She told me her father-in-law was eating the child`s rations."

Islamist violence escalates in Burkina Faso, making widespread hunger worse

A citizen of the United States was killed by Burkina Faso security forces outside a military base in the capital Ouagadougou on Saturday.

The shooting comes with the West African country on edge as it prepares for a general election&nbsp;Sunday in the shadow of a growing jihadist insurgency.

According to AFP, the man was strolling outside the Baba Sy military camp to the south of the city and acting "suspiciously".

After he refused to comply and tried to flee, soldiers fired warning shots, some of which hit the man. He was then immediately taken to a health centre where he died.

Military camps have been frequently targetted, including an attack on a base near the Malian border last year that killed 24 soldiers.

The security crisis has dominated the electoral campaign and an undisclosed number of troops have been deployed for polling day in the landlocked nation.

No votes in the presidential and parliamentary polls will be cast in one-fifth of the country's territory, where large swathes remain outside the state's control and jihadists strike almost daily.

A citizen of the United States was killed by Burkina Faso security forces outside a military base in the capital Ouagadougou on Saturday. The shooting comes with the West African country on edge as it prepares for a general election Sunday in the shadow of a growing jihadist insurgency.

A citizen of the United States was killed by Burkina Faso security forces outside a military base in the capital Ouagadougou on Saturday. The shooting comes with the West African country on edge as it prepares for a general election Sunday in the shadow of a growing jihadist insurgency. According to AFP, the man was strolling outside the Baba Sy military camp to the south of the city and acting "suspiciously". After he refused to comply and tried to flee, soldiers fired warning shots, some of which hit the man. He was then immediately taken to a health centre where he died. Military camps have been frequently targetted, including an attack on a base near the Malian border last year that killed 24 soldiers. The security crisis has dominated the electoral campaign and an undisclosed number of troops have been deployed for polling day in the landlocked nation. No votes in the presidential and parliamentary polls will be cast in one-fifth of the country's territory, where large swathes remain outside the state's control and jihadists strike almost daily.

US citizen killed by Burkina Faso security forces

Polls opened in Burkina Faso on Sunday in a presidential election dominated by jihadist violence, which has cost over 2,000 lives this year and will prevent voting in hundreds of villages.

President Roch Kaboré is seeking a second five-year term, campaigning on achievements such as free healthcare for children under the age of five and paving some of the red dirt roads that snake across the arid West African country.

But a surge in attacks by groups with links to the militant groups al Qaeda and Islamic State has eclipsed everything else. Three weeks after his inauguration, al Qaeda`s regional branch attacked a hotel and a cafe in the capital, killing 32 people. An ambush on mine workers in the east last year killed 39.

"We need someone who is going to bring peace to our country. The president needs a second mandate to end what has started," said secretary Maimouna Tapsoba, 59, who wiped purple ink from her finger after voting in Ouagadougou.

Small numbers of early voters waited in a large sandy schoolyard to cast their ballots after polls opened at 6 a.m. (0600 GMT).

Kaboré faces stiff opposition from former finance minister Zephirin Diabré, the runner-up in 2015, and Eddie Komboigo, who runs the party of Blaise Campaoré, the president of 27 years who was overthrown in 2014. Analysts expect a tight race that could go to a second round if no candidate wins more than 50%.

Provisional results of the first round are expected by midweek.

In a press conference on Saturday, Diabré said the president was orchestrating "massive fraud" ahead of the vote, without providing evidence.

The electoral commission says polling stations will remain shut across much of the north and east for fear of violence.

At least 400,000 people - nearly 7% of the electorate - will be unable to cast their votes, official data show.

Polls opened in Burkina Faso on Sunday in a presidential election dominated by jihadist violence, which has cost over 2,000 lives this year and will prevent voting in hundreds of villages.

Polls opened in Burkina Faso on Sunday in a presidential election dominated by jihadist violence, which has cost over 2,000 lives this year and will prevent voting in hundreds of villages. President Roch Kaboré is seeking a second five-year term, campaigning on achievements such as free healthcare for children under the age of five and paving some of the red dirt roads that snake across the arid West African country. But a surge in attacks by groups with links to the militant groups al Qaeda and Islamic State has eclipsed everything else. Three weeks after his inauguration, al Qaeda`s regional branch attacked a hotel and a cafe in the capital, killing 32 people. An ambush on mine workers in the east last year killed 39. "We need someone who is going to bring peace to our country. The president needs a second mandate to end what has started," said secretary Maimouna Tapsoba, 59, who wiped purple ink from her finger after voting in Ouagadougou. Small numbers of early voters waited in a large sandy schoolyard to cast their ballots after polls opened at 6 a.m. (0600 GMT). Kaboré faces stiff opposition from former finance minister Zephirin Diabré, the runner-up in 2015, and Eddie Komboigo, who runs the party of Blaise Campaoré, the president of 27 years who was overthrown in 2014. Analysts expect a tight race that could go to a second round if no candidate wins more than 50%. Provisional results of the first round are expected by midweek. In a press conference on Saturday, Diabré said the president was orchestrating "massive fraud" ahead of the vote, without providing evidence. The electoral commission says polling stations will remain shut across much of the north and east for fear of violence. At least 400,000 people - nearly 7% of the electorate - will be unable to cast their votes, official data show.

Voting starts in Burkina Faso under looming threat of violence

Burkina Faso will vote in a general election Sunday in the shadow of a growing extremist insurgency, with President Roch Marc Christian Kabore expected to win re-election.

Burkina Faso goes to the polls amid growing extremist insurgency

United Nations' World Food Programme has warned people across Burkina Faso, Mali & Niger will face catastrophic levels of hunger if the international community fails to act soon.

World Food Programme appeals for access as famine appears in Sahel

At least 43 people have been killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, in what local sources described as apparent vigilante reprisals for jihadist violence.

Burkina Faso has battled against a jihadist insurgency since 2015, but the conflict has also provoked attacks on Fulani herders who other communities accuse of supporting militants.

"On Sunday, attacks were carried out on the villages of Dinguila and Barga... in Yatenga province. The provisional toll is 43 victims," the government said in a statement.

The statement did not blame any group for the attack or mention the Fulani community.

According to local sources, Fulani people make up the bulk of the population of the villages. Since jihadists have recruited among the Fulani, other communities accuse them of supporting militants.

Vigilante reprisal attacks against Fulani villages have been on the rise.&nbsp;

A year ago, armed militia attacked the village of Yirgou and killed six people including the village chief, triggering a wave of violence between rival communities.

Burkina Faso is in the centre of the Sahel region where a militant insurgency has spread from Mali. Attacks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso killed at least 4,000 people in 2019, according to the United Nations.

At least 43 people have been killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, in what local sources described as apparent vigilante reprisals for jihadist violence.

At least 43 people have been killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, in what local sources described as apparent vigilante reprisals for jihadist violence. Burkina Faso has battled against a jihadist insurgency since 2015, but the conflict has also provoked attacks on Fulani herders who other communities accuse of supporting militants. "On Sunday, attacks were carried out on the villages of Dinguila and Barga... in Yatenga province. The provisional toll is 43 victims," the government said in a statement. The statement did not blame any group for the attack or mention the Fulani community. According to local sources, Fulani people make up the bulk of the population of the villages. Since jihadists have recruited among the Fulani, other communities accuse them of supporting militants. Vigilante reprisal attacks against Fulani villages have been on the rise. A year ago, armed militia attacked the village of Yirgou and killed six people including the village chief, triggering a wave of violence between rival communities. Burkina Faso is in the centre of the Sahel region where a militant insurgency has spread from Mali. Attacks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso killed at least 4,000 people in 2019, according to the United Nations.

At least 43 killed in Burkina Faso over 'vigilante' attacks

At least 43 people have been killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, in what local sources described as apparent vigilante reprisals for jihadist assaults.

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"On Sunday, attacks were carried out on the villages of Dinguila and Barga... in Yatenga province. The provisional toll is 43 victims," the government said in a statement.

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According to local sources, Fulani people make up the bulk of the population of the villages, and they have been accused of ties with jihadists waging an insurgency in the north.

At least 43 people have been killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, in what local sources described as apparent vigilante reprisals for jihadist assaults.

At least 43 people have been killed in attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, in what local sources described as apparent vigilante reprisals for jihadist assaults. Also read: BCCI announces 15-man squad for ODI series against South Africa "On Sunday, attacks were carried out on the villages of Dinguila and Barga... in Yatenga province. The provisional toll is 43 victims," the government said in a statement. Also see: 20 killed in road accident in Pakistan According to local sources, Fulani people make up the bulk of the population of the villages, and they have been accused of ties with jihadists waging an insurgency in the north.

At least 43 killed in attack on Burkina Faso villages

Notorious gangster Ravi Pujari who has managed to give security officials the slip since 1994 has finally been brought to India.&nbsp;

Karnataka police, where over 97 cases have been registered involving the deadly gangster, took custody of Pujari in Senegal after the country's Supreme Court ordered his extradition on Feb 19 2020.&nbsp;

Pujari was brought back to Bengaluru at 12.30am on Feb 24.&nbsp;

The SC of Senegal had ordered for his immediate extradition to India taking into consideration his record of activities and misuse of the country of Senegal,&nbsp;said Amar Kumar Pandey, ADGP(Law and Order). The gangster was arrested in Jan last year after first positive identification on December 2018.&nbsp;

Ravi Pujari had acquired citizenship of Burkima Faso where he stayed for 13 years as a businessman and ran textile businesses and hotels.&nbsp;

However, in the last three years, Pujari shifted base from Burkina Faso to Senegal and opened a restaurant named Maharaja that gained popularity.&nbsp;

According to the police, Pujari continued his extortion business from Senegal too targeting personalities from the film industry, businessmen, builders and developers, doctors and other professionals.&nbsp;

He was also notorious for meddling in political activities by making threatning calls to people in political life or those expressing political opinions.&nbsp;

'There were a large number of red corner notices against Pujari and one of them was involving a double murder in Bengaluru's Tilak Nagar in 1994. Cases against Pujari in Tilak Nagar police station have been registered under 302, 120B and &nbsp;the arms act. this red corner notice was imposed on him in Dakar.

"Ravi Pujari was sent to prison on 19 Jan 2019 and he remained in prison until he was handed over to Indian authorities on 22 Feb 2020. This is to set the record straight," said ADGP Amar Kumar Pandey.&nbsp;

After years of trying to find the elusive underworld don, Pujari ran out of luck when he featured in images of a football tournament that he had sponsored.&nbsp;

The images went viral which tipped off security officials who positively identified him on December 18, 2018. His identity was again verified on Jan 1, last year. Security officials then closed in on him when he went to a salon to colour his hair and apprehended him on Jan 19, 2019.&nbsp;

59-yr-old Ravi Pujari has been remanded to police custody till March 7, 2020.&nbsp;

'After a long chase of a ghost-like figure it comes to a conclusion' said the ADGP. Pujari has 97 cases in Karnataka alone, of which 47 cases are in Bengaluru city. Other cases against Pujari are registered in Maharashtra, Mumbai, Thane, some districts of Gujarat and Cochin.&nbsp;

Pujari had not been traceable since 1994 when he is believed to have escaped to Nepal using a fake Indian passport.&nbsp;

The passport registered his residential address in Mysuru, Karnataka. The fake passport enabled him to travel from Nepal to Bangkok, following which he went to &nbsp;Uganda and then Burkina Faso where he stayed for 13 years.&nbsp;

The don's original name is Ravi Prakash Pujari, however he was bestowed the alias Anthony Fernandes by his mentor and gangster Chota Rajan. It was with this alias that Pujari managed to get a Burkina Faso passport.&nbsp;

However, over the years Anthony came to be known as Tony and then finally as Rocky Fernandes in Senegal. Pujari is said to have gained popularity among the Senegal social circles with his philanthropic work by donating clothes and pump sets etc.&nbsp;

"It was a defining moment for us when we saw him in the flesh first time. We had mixed feelings. But once we took him into custody he opened up and got comfortable," said the ADGP. &nbsp;

"The Karnataka police intends to complete processes in the ongoing investigations, after which all the agencies that would like to investigate their cases involving Pujari will be given the opportunity. This brings us to the situation where a fugitive for many years has been brought before the law" concluded ADGP Amar Kumar Pandey.

Notorious gangster Ravi Pujari who has managed to give security officials the slip since 1994 has finally been brought to India. Karnataka police, where over 97 cases have been registered involving the deadly gangster, took custody of Pujari in Senegal after the country's Supreme Court ordered his extradition on Feb 19 2020.

Notorious gangster Ravi Pujari who has managed to give security officials the slip since 1994 has finally been brought to India. Karnataka police, where over 97 cases have been registered involving the deadly gangster, took custody of Pujari in Senegal after the country's Supreme Court ordered his extradition on Feb 19 2020. Pujari was brought back to Bengaluru at 12.30am on Feb 24. The SC of Senegal had ordered for his immediate extradition to India taking into consideration his record of activities and misuse of the country of Senegal, said Amar Kumar Pandey, ADGP(Law and Order). The gangster was arrested in Jan last year after first positive identification on December 2018. Ravi Pujari had acquired citizenship of Burkima Faso where he stayed for 13 years as a businessman and ran textile businesses and hotels. However, in the last three years, Pujari shifted base from Burkina Faso to Senegal and opened a restaurant named Maharaja that gained popularity. According to the police, Pujari continued his extortion business from Senegal too targeting personalities from the film industry, businessmen, builders and developers, doctors and other professionals. He was also notorious for meddling in political activities by making threatning calls to people in political life or those expressing political opinions. 'There were a large number of red corner notices against Pujari and one of them was involving a double murder in Bengaluru's Tilak Nagar in 1994. Cases against Pujari in Tilak Nagar police station have been registered under 302, 120B and the arms act. this red corner notice was imposed on him in Dakar. "Ravi Pujari was sent to prison on 19 Jan 2019 and he remained in prison until he was handed over to Indian authorities on 22 Feb 2020. This is to set the record straight," said ADGP Amar Kumar Pandey. After years of trying to find the elusive underworld don, Pujari ran out of luck when he featured in images of a football tournament that he had sponsored. The images went viral which tipped off security officials who positively identified him on December 18, 2018. His identity was again verified on Jan 1, last year. Security officials then closed in on him when he went to a salon to colour his hair and apprehended him on Jan 19, 2019. 59-yr-old Ravi Pujari has been remanded to police custody till March 7, 2020. 'After a long chase of a ghost-like figure it comes to a conclusion' said the ADGP. Pujari has 97 cases in Karnataka alone, of which 47 cases are in Bengaluru city. Other cases against Pujari are registered in Maharashtra, Mumbai, Thane, some districts of Gujarat and Cochin. Pujari had not been traceable since 1994 when he is believed to have escaped to Nepal using a fake Indian passport. The passport registered his residential address in Mysuru, Karnataka. The fake passport enabled him to travel from Nepal to Bangkok, following which he went to Uganda and then Burkina Faso where he stayed for 13 years. The don's original name is Ravi Prakash Pujari, however he was bestowed the alias Anthony Fernandes by his mentor and gangster Chota Rajan. It was with this alias that Pujari managed to get a Burkina Faso passport. However, over the years Anthony came to be known as Tony and then finally as Rocky Fernandes in Senegal. Pujari is said to have gained popularity among the Senegal social circles with his philanthropic work by donating clothes and pump sets etc. "It was a defining moment for us when we saw him in the flesh first time. We had mixed feelings. But once we took him into custody he opened up and got comfortable," said the ADGP. "The Karnataka police intends to complete processes in the ongoing investigations, after which all the agencies that would like to investigate their cases involving Pujari will be given the opportunity. This brings us to the situation where a fugitive for many years has been brought before the law" concluded ADGP Amar Kumar Pandey.

Gangster Ravi Pujari brought to India from Senegal

Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an attack on a Protestant church in a village in northern <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/35-civilians-87-terrorists-killed-in-militant-attack-in-burkina-faso-270276">Burkina Faso</a>, officials said Monday.

In a separate incident, five Burkinabe soldiers in the troubled region were killed by a roadside, security sources said.

A group of "armed terrorists" raided the village of Pansi, in Yagha province "and attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents", the governor, Colonel Salfo Kabore, said in a statement sent to AFP. &nbsp;

Watch: 35 civilians, 87 terrorists killed in militant attack in Burkina Faso

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The assault occurred on Sunday during a weekly service at a Protestant church, security officials said.

"The provisional toll is 24 killed, including the pastor... 18 wounded and individuals who were kidnapped," Kabore said.

A resident of the nearby town of Sebba said Pansi villagers had fled there for safety.

Christians and churches in northern provinces have become frequent targets by armed Islamists.

On February 10, suspected jihadists in Sebba seized seven people at the home of a pastor. Five bodies were found three days later, including the pastor, according to the local governor.

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/40-killed-in-attacks-in-restive-central-mali-280847">40 killed in attacks in restive central Mali</a>

One of the poorest countries in the world, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/35-civilians-87-terrorists-killed-in-militant-attack-in-burkina-faso-270276">Burkina Faso</a> is on the front line of a jihadist insurgency advancing in the Sahel.

Since 2015, around 750 people have been killed in Burkina and around 600,000 people have fled their homes.

Also in the north of the country, five soldiers were killed on Sunday when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device near Banh, in Loroum province, security sources said.

"Three of the five were killed instantly and the two others died later from serious injuries," one of the sources said.

Thirty people in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/35-civilians-87-terrorists-killed-in-militant-attack-in-burkina-faso-270276">Burkina Faso</a> have died in four attacks by highway bombs since the start of the year, according to an AFP toll.

They include seven schoolchildren in the northwest of the country who were among 14 killed aboard a bus that had taken a road that had been banned because of the security risk.

According to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/14-children-among-up-to-22-dead-in-cameroon-massacre-united-nations-281151">UN</a> figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina and neighbouring Mali and Niger left nearly 4,000 people dead last year.

Their armed forces are weak, struggling with poor equipment and lack of training and funding.

In Niger, a policeman was killed on Sunday at a police post near Ayorou, in the western region of Tillaberi, in the second attack in the area in a week, a security official said.

Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an attack on a Protestant church in a village in northern Burkina Faso, officials said Monday. In a separate incident, five Burkinabe soldiers in the troubled region were killed by a roadside, security sources said.

Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an attack on a Protestant church in a village in northern Burkina Faso, officials said Monday. In a separate incident, five Burkinabe soldiers in the troubled region were killed by a roadside, security sources said. A group of "armed terrorists" raided the village of Pansi, in Yagha province "and attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents", the governor, Colonel Salfo Kabore, said in a statement sent to AFP. Watch: 35 civilians, 87 terrorists killed in militant attack in Burkina Faso The assault occurred on Sunday during a weekly service at a Protestant church, security officials said. "The provisional toll is 24 killed, including the pastor... 18 wounded and individuals who were kidnapped," Kabore said. A resident of the nearby town of Sebba said Pansi villagers had fled there for safety. Christians and churches in northern provinces have become frequent targets by armed Islamists. On February 10, suspected jihadists in Sebba seized seven people at the home of a pastor. Five bodies were found three days later, including the pastor, according to the local governor. Also read: 40 killed in attacks in restive central Mali One of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso is on the front line of a jihadist insurgency advancing in the Sahel. Since 2015, around 750 people have been killed in Burkina and around 600,000 people have fled their homes. Also in the north of the country, five soldiers were killed on Sunday when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device near Banh, in Loroum province, security sources said. "Three of the five were killed instantly and the two others died later from serious injuries," one of the sources said. Thirty people in Burkina Faso have died in four attacks by highway bombs since the start of the year, according to an AFP toll. They include seven schoolchildren in the northwest of the country who were among 14 killed aboard a bus that had taken a road that had been banned because of the security risk. According to UN figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina and neighbouring Mali and Niger left nearly 4,000 people dead last year. Their armed forces are weak, struggling with poor equipment and lack of training and funding. In Niger, a policeman was killed on Sunday at a police post near Ayorou, in the western region of Tillaberi, in the second attack in the area in a week, a security official said.

Twenty-four killed in Burkina Faso church attack: Governor

A militant attack in northern Burkina Faso on Tuesday killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, the president said, one of the deadliest assaults in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African country. #WION #WestAfricancountry #Burkina Faso #jihadist violence

35 civilians, 87 terrorists killed in militant attack in Burkina Faso

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/burkina-faso-army-says-32-terrorists-killed-in-two-operations-262748">Burkina Faso</a> militants killed at least 35 civilians, mostly female in northern Soum province on Tuesday.

During the clash with security forces at least 80 militants were killed as seven soldiers succumbed to injuries in of the deadliest attack in the country. According to government officials&nbsp;31 victims included women.&nbsp;

"A large group of terrorists simultaneously attacked the military base and the civilian population in Arbinda," the army chief of staff said in a statement.

The morning twin attack by bike bourne militants on a military base and Arbinda in Soum province led the military to respond backed by the country's Air Force. The attack lasted for several hours leading to large scale deaths.&nbsp;

"This barbaric attack resulted in the deaths of 35 civilian victims, most of them women," the country's President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a Twitter post after the incident.

President Roch Marc Kabore has declared two days of national mourning after the attack shocked the country.&nbsp;

The army said it seized large cache of weapons after the fighting ended.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Burkina Faso militants killed at least 35 civilians, mostly female in northern Soum province on Tuesday. During the clash with security forces at least 80 militants were killed as seven soldiers succumbed to injuries in of the deadliest attack in the country.

Burkina Faso militants killed at least 35 civilians, mostly female in northern Soum province on Tuesday. During the clash with security forces at least 80 militants were killed as seven soldiers succumbed to injuries in of the deadliest attack in the country. According to government officials 31 victims included women. "A large group of terrorists simultaneously attacked the military base and the civilian population in Arbinda," the army chief of staff said in a statement. The morning twin attack by bike bourne militants on a military base and Arbinda in Soum province led the military to respond backed by the country's Air Force. The attack lasted for several hours leading to large scale deaths. "This barbaric attack resulted in the deaths of 35 civilian victims, most of them women," the country's President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a Twitter post after the incident. President Roch Marc Kabore has declared two days of national mourning after the attack shocked the country. The army said it seized large cache of weapons after the fighting ended. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 35 civilians killed in militant attack in Burkina Faso

Pope Francis used his Christmas message on Wednesday to denounce attacks on Christians in Africa and prayed for victims of conflict, natural disasters and disease in the world's poorest continent.

The pontiff urged "comfort to those who are persecuted for their religious faith, especially missionaries and members of the faithful who have been kidnapped, and to the victims of attacks by extremist groups, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria."

The pope prayed for those "who suffer because of violence, natural disasters or outbreaks of disease" as well as migrants undertaking a perilous and potentially deadly sea crossing to Europe to seek a better life.

"It is an injustice that makes them cross deserts and seas that become cemeteries," he said in his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and the World) message at the Vatican.&nbsp;

"It is an injustice that forces them to ensure unspeakable forms of abuse, the enslavement of every kind and torture in inhumane detention camps. It is an injustice that turns them away from places where they might have hope for a dignified life, but instead, find themselves before walls of indifference."

Pope Francis also focused on the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, plagued by insecurity for a quarter of a century due to the presence of dozens of local and foreign armed groups.

"May (Jesus Christ) bring peace to those living in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, torn by continuing conflicts," the 83-year-old pontiff said.

Pope Francis used his Christmas message on Wednesday to denounce attacks on Christians in Africa and prayed for victims of conflict, natural disasters and disease in the world's poorest continent.

Pope Francis used his Christmas message on Wednesday to denounce attacks on Christians in Africa and prayed for victims of conflict, natural disasters and disease in the world's poorest continent. The pontiff urged "comfort to those who are persecuted for their religious faith, especially missionaries and members of the faithful who have been kidnapped, and to the victims of attacks by extremist groups, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria." The pope prayed for those "who suffer because of violence, natural disasters or outbreaks of disease" as well as migrants undertaking a perilous and potentially deadly sea crossing to Europe to seek a better life. "It is an injustice that makes them cross deserts and seas that become cemeteries," he said in his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and the World) message at the Vatican. "It is an injustice that forces them to ensure unspeakable forms of abuse, the enslavement of every kind and torture in inhumane detention camps. It is an injustice that turns them away from places where they might have hope for a dignified life, but instead, find themselves before walls of indifference." Pope Francis also focused on the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, plagued by insecurity for a quarter of a century due to the presence of dozens of local and foreign armed groups. "May (Jesus Christ) bring peace to those living in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, torn by continuing conflicts," the 83-year-old pontiff said.

Pope decries conflicts, 'extremist' attacks in Africa amid Burkina Faso mourning

They are cheap, made from components that are easily obtained and murderously effective.

Security experts say that in the arsenal of jihadist groups whose insurgency is shaking the Sahel state of Burkina Faso, the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/jihadists-kill-four-nigerian-troops-sources-263148">improvised explosive device</a> (IED) is one of the deadliest weapons.

"With 15,000-20,000 CFA francs ($25 / 23 euros to $34 / 30 euros), you've got an IED that can destroy something worth a thousand times more," a security source said.

"It's a poor man's weapon in an asymmetrical war."

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died in violence across the Sahel which began when armed Islamists revolted in northern Mali in 2012.

The conflict has since spread to neighbouring <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/exclusive-mine-workers-demanded-more-protection-before-deadly-burkina-faso-attack-263092">Burkina Faso</a> as well as Niger, two of the world's poorest and most fragile countries.

"IEDs appeared in (Burkina Faso) in mid-2018. Since then, we have recorded 33 attacks with IEDs, claiming 133 lives," said Italian researcher Roberto Sollazzo.

Hidden in plastic to thwart metal detectors, packed with nails for a shrapnel effect, the IED is increasingly used in roadside ambushes.

On&nbsp;November 6, an attack on a convoy of Canadian mining company Semafo killed 38 people. The IED blew up a military escort vehicle before jihadist forces emerged from behind cover to machine-gun the buses.

Motorbike parts&nbsp;

"The point of an IED is that it has to be made cheaply, using locally available materials," Sollazzo said.

"Burkina is a nation of mopeds," he said, referring to a light motorcycle also known as a mobylette.

"There are 300,000 of them in the country. So many components of an IED can be taken from them without attracting the attention of the security forces."

Mopeds are cannibalised for their rubber tyres, which are used in parts of a simple pressure-plate switch that activates the bomb when a vehicle passes over it, and for their batteries, which ignite the detonator.

For fuses and detonators, the jihadists go to the same suppliers as artisanal gold-diggers who buy the materials to blast rocks at mining sites.

"A box of 166 detonators costs 600,000 CFA francs, which is 3,500 CFA francs for one detonator. It's 300,000 CFA for 250 metres (820 feet) of fuse wire. When you buy this stuff, nobody asks any questions," Sollazzo said.

"There's trafficking from Ghana for the gold-diggers. They can buy a package of dynamite, fuse and detonator for 5,000 CFA francs."

Dynamite or fertiliser bomb&nbsp;

Such kits are enough for the miners, who lack the means to buy in bulk.

"But what interests the jihadists most is the detonator," the security expert said.

The non-profit International Crisis Group (ICG) warned in a report in November that jihadist groups are taking a growing interest in artisanal mines as a "new source of finance, even a recruiting ground", with potential for training in the handling of explosive materials.

Apart from dynamite, IEDs may also use a mix of ammonium nitrate, a chemical found in fertiliser that is sold in Burkina Faso for 20,000 CFA francs for a 50-kilogramme (110-pound) bag&nbsp;and fuel oil, which again is scavenged from mopeds.

Sollazzo says that "the most complicated" aspect for bomb makers is getting the IED to explode.

"Mostly it's done with wire and a manual trigger," he said, while the security expert said Chinese-made remote-control devices were emerging that appear to have been brought in from neighbouring Mali.

They are cheap, made from components that are easily obtained and murderously effective. Security experts say that in the arsenal of jihadist groups whose insurgency is shaking the Sahel state of Burkina Faso, the improvised explosive device (IED) is one of the deadliest weapons.

They are cheap, made from components that are easily obtained and murderously effective. Security experts say that in the arsenal of jihadist groups whose insurgency is shaking the Sahel state of Burkina Faso, the improvised explosive device (IED) is one of the deadliest weapons. "With 15,000-20,000 CFA francs ($25 / 23 euros to $34 / 30 euros), you've got an IED that can destroy something worth a thousand times more," a security source said. "It's a poor man's weapon in an asymmetrical war." Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died in violence across the Sahel which began when armed Islamists revolted in northern Mali in 2012. The conflict has since spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso as well as Niger, two of the world's poorest and most fragile countries. "IEDs appeared in (Burkina Faso) in mid-2018. Since then, we have recorded 33 attacks with IEDs, claiming 133 lives," said Italian researcher Roberto Sollazzo. Hidden in plastic to thwart metal detectors, packed with nails for a shrapnel effect, the IED is increasingly used in roadside ambushes. On November 6, an attack on a convoy of Canadian mining company Semafo killed 38 people. The IED blew up a military escort vehicle before jihadist forces emerged from behind cover to machine-gun the buses. Motorbike parts "The point of an IED is that it has to be made cheaply, using locally available materials," Sollazzo said. "Burkina is a nation of mopeds," he said, referring to a light motorcycle also known as a mobylette. "There are 300,000 of them in the country. So many components of an IED can be taken from them without attracting the attention of the security forces." Mopeds are cannibalised for their rubber tyres, which are used in parts of a simple pressure-plate switch that activates the bomb when a vehicle passes over it, and for their batteries, which ignite the detonator. For fuses and detonators, the jihadists go to the same suppliers as artisanal gold-diggers who buy the materials to blast rocks at mining sites. "A box of 166 detonators costs 600,000 CFA francs, which is 3,500 CFA francs for one detonator. It's 300,000 CFA for 250 metres (820 feet) of fuse wire. When you buy this stuff, nobody asks any questions," Sollazzo said. "There's trafficking from Ghana for the gold-diggers. They can buy a package of dynamite, fuse and detonator for 5,000 CFA francs." Dynamite or fertiliser bomb Such kits are enough for the miners, who lack the means to buy in bulk. "But what interests the jihadists most is the detonator," the security expert said. The non-profit International Crisis Group (ICG) warned in a report in November that jihadist groups are taking a growing interest in artisanal mines as a "new source of finance, even a recruiting ground", with potential for training in the handling of explosive materials. Apart from dynamite, IEDs may also use a mix of ammonium nitrate, a chemical found in fertiliser that is sold in Burkina Faso for 20,000 CFA francs for a 50-kilogramme (110-pound) bag and fuel oil, which again is scavenged from mopeds. Sollazzo says that "the most complicated" aspect for bomb makers is getting the IED to explode. "Mostly it's done with wire and a manual trigger," he said, while the security expert said Chinese-made remote-control devices were emerging that appear to have been brought in from neighbouring Mali.

In Burkina Faso, 'poor man's bomb' reaps a bloody toll

The black boxes from two <a href="https://www.wionews.com/.../thirteen-french-soldiers-fighting-jihadists-in- mali-killed-in-helicopter-crash-264659">French military helicopters</a> that collided in Mali killing 13 soldiers have been found, a French military spokesman said Wednesday.

The crash occurred late Monday during an operation against jihadists in the Liptako region, near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger. It was the heaviest single loss for the French military in nearly four decades.

"The two black boxes from the helicopters have been recovered, they will be handed over to the relevant authorities to be analysed," the spokesman, Colonel Frederic Barbry, told BFMTV.

Three helicopters and a squadron of Mirage jets had arrived on Monday to support ground troops pursuing Islamist extremists.

Shortly after troops engaged the insurgents, who fled on motorbikes and in a pickup truck, a Tiger attack helicopter collided with a Cougar military transport helicopter, killing all 13 onboard the two aircraft.

Barbry said no theory as to the cause of the crash is being ruled out, and it would be up to the investigation team to determine why the collision occurred.

The conditions for flying at the time of the crash were "extremely difficult" because it was a dark night with no moonlight, the spokesman said.

"The pilots work with night vision binoculars that intensify the residual light when there is no moon, no sources of artificial light like in cities, as is the case in this region."

Barbry said the soldiers' bodies will be repatriated to the French mainland.

The accident brought to 41 the number of French troops killed in the Sahel region since Paris intervened against Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists in Mali in 2013.

It also underscored the challenge for France of trying to control an insurgency in an area the size of Western Europe as a time of escalating violence.

The black boxes from two French military helicopters that collided in Mali killing 13 soldiers have been found, a French military spokesman said Wednesday. The crash occurred late Monday during an operation against jihadists in the Liptako region, near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger.

The black boxes from two French military helicopters that collided in Mali killing 13 soldiers have been found, a French military spokesman said Wednesday. The crash occurred late Monday during an operation against jihadists in the Liptako region, near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger. It was the heaviest single loss for the French military in nearly four decades. "The two black boxes from the helicopters have been recovered, they will be handed over to the relevant authorities to be analysed," the spokesman, Colonel Frederic Barbry, told BFMTV. Three helicopters and a squadron of Mirage jets had arrived on Monday to support ground troops pursuing Islamist extremists. Shortly after troops engaged the insurgents, who fled on motorbikes and in a pickup truck, a Tiger attack helicopter collided with a Cougar military transport helicopter, killing all 13 onboard the two aircraft. Barbry said no theory as to the cause of the crash is being ruled out, and it would be up to the investigation team to determine why the collision occurred. The conditions for flying at the time of the crash were "extremely difficult" because it was a dark night with no moonlight, the spokesman said. "The pilots work with night vision binoculars that intensify the residual light when there is no moon, no sources of artificial light like in cities, as is the case in this region." Barbry said the soldiers' bodies will be repatriated to the French mainland. The accident brought to 41 the number of French troops killed in the Sahel region since Paris intervened against Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists in Mali in 2013. It also underscored the challenge for France of trying to control an insurgency in an area the size of Western Europe as a time of escalating violence.

Black boxes from crashed helicopters found in Mali

Five months before an ambush killed 39 colleagues, local workers at a Canadian-owned gold mine in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/burkina-faso-army-says-32-terrorists-killed-in-two-operations-262748">Burkina Faso</a> pleaded with managers to fly them to the site rather than go by a road that was prone to attacks, two people present at the meeting said.

The employees wanted the same protections as the expatriate staff who had been flying to the mine in helicopters since three workers were killed in two earlier attacks in August 2018.

Shortly after those deaths, the mine's owner, Quebec-based Semafo Inc., said it had added a military escort to bus convoys taken by Burkinabe workers to the site each week.

But local employees of Semafo and its Accra-based contractor African Mining Services (AMS) did not think it was enough in an area notorious for bandits and jihadists.

On November&nbsp;6, attackers blew up an armoured vehicle escorting the workers' convoy and opened fire on their buses, killing 39 people and wounding 60 others. It was the worst attack the West African country has seen in years.

The local employees at AMS expressed their fears at a June meeting attended by four miners representing the local workforce, an AMS manager and two AMS human resources representatives, according to two workers who attended.

"I said 'do you want them to kill us before you take action?'," said Samuel Kabre, who was at the meeting. "They (AMS management) said locals weren't the target, but we were the target."

The second source, who no longer works at the mine, declined to be named.

AMS and its parent company, Australia-based Perenti Global Ltd, did not comment on the meeting, or whether employees' concerns were relayed to Semafo. Semafo did not have a representative at the meeting, the sources said.

In a statement responding to questions from Reuters, Perenti said that according to its intelligence, military and government personnel were considered the likely target of armed raids, not local workers.

It said that security matched the level of threat identified by intelligence sources and international security firms.

"The scale and focus of the attack was unprecedented and not seen before in this region."

Semafo representatives did not respond to calls and questions delivered to the company's offices in Ouagadougou and its Montreal headquarters.

A representative with law firm McMillan LLP Inc., which is listed in past security filings as counsel for Semafo, referred questions to the company.

AMS hired mining consultant Patrick Hickey in March to draw up a proposal to fly all staff to and from the mine once a runway had been built there, Hickey told Reuters.

On June 13, he sent his proposal to officials at Perenti, which was then called Ausdrill, according to an email seen by Reuters.

John&nbsp;Kavanagh, AMS' former chief operating officer of African operations, presented the plan to Semafo soon afterwards, according to Hickey, who said he was not privy to Semafo's response.

"Things were changing, and more and more we were going to have to fly employees out in Burkina. Not everyone had come to terms with that yet," Hickey said.

Kavanagh did not respond to calls and an email seeking comment. Perenti and AMS declined to comment on Hickey's plan if it was shared with Semafo or what the Canadian company's response was.

Around the time of the June meeting, Perenti sent bullet-proof vests for Burkinabe workers to wear on the journey to and from the mine, Kabre and his former colleague said. Perenti confirmed that body armour was offered to staff.

But workers refused to wear it, fearing the expensive kit would attract armed assailants seeking to steal it. The unused vests are piled up in an office at the mine, they said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and Burkina Faso's President Roch Marc Kabore has referred to the assailants as unidentified "terrorist groups".

Groups with links to Islamic State and al Qaeda operate in the country and have carried out similar attacks over the past year, security officials in the region have said.

After the ambush, Semafo suspended operations at the mine in Burkina Faso's Est region and said it would not resume them until security in the area was assured.

The company had this year started building an airstrip to increase transport capacity at the site. But initial plans included flying only expatriate employees and some high-level local staff, according to company documents and a former Semafo employee.

A PowerPoint presentation prepared by Semafo in early May and seen by Reuters shows that the runway would be used by a single-pilot Cessna Grand Caravan plane that could hold 9-12 passengers.

That plane was suitable only for flying a small number of employees, not a workforce of hundreds, said the former Semafo employee. "You would need to add additional planes."

At the time, the company intended to fly the plane three times a week, the source said. He did not know if the plan had been altered since May.

AMS and Perenti declined to say whether they supported Hickey's proposal to fly all employees.

His plan called for two Beech 1900D propeller planes and a crew of four pilots to make multiple trips each week at an annual cost of between $3.4 million to $3.8 million, according to the emailed proposal seen by Reuters.

Flying only senior management and expatriate staff would cost $1.5 million to $2 million, the proposal said.

The runway was still under construction at the time of the November ambush, Kabre and the former mine employee said. It was not clear when it would be finished.

Five months before an ambush killed 39 colleagues, local workers at a Canadian-owned gold mine in Burkina Faso pleaded with managers to fly them to the site rather than go by a road that was prone to attacks, two people present at the meeting said.

Five months before an ambush killed 39 colleagues, local workers at a Canadian-owned gold mine in Burkina Faso pleaded with managers to fly them to the site rather than go by a road that was prone to attacks, two people present at the meeting said. The employees wanted the same protections as the expatriate staff who had been flying to the mine in helicopters since three workers were killed in two earlier attacks in August 2018. Shortly after those deaths, the mine's owner, Quebec-based Semafo Inc., said it had added a military escort to bus convoys taken by Burkinabe workers to the site each week. But local employees of Semafo and its Accra-based contractor African Mining Services (AMS) did not think it was enough in an area notorious for bandits and jihadists. On November 6, attackers blew up an armoured vehicle escorting the workers' convoy and opened fire on their buses, killing 39 people and wounding 60 others. It was the worst attack the West African country has seen in years. The local employees at AMS expressed their fears at a June meeting attended by four miners representing the local workforce, an AMS manager and two AMS human resources representatives, according to two workers who attended. "I said 'do you want them to kill us before you take action?'," said Samuel Kabre, who was at the meeting. "They (AMS management) said locals weren't the target, but we were the target." The second source, who no longer works at the mine, declined to be named. AMS and its parent company, Australia-based Perenti Global Ltd, did not comment on the meeting, or whether employees' concerns were relayed to Semafo. Semafo did not have a representative at the meeting, the sources said. In a statement responding to questions from Reuters, Perenti said that according to its intelligence, military and government personnel were considered the likely target of armed raids, not local workers. It said that security matched the level of threat identified by intelligence sources and international security firms. "The scale and focus of the attack was unprecedented and not seen before in this region." Semafo representatives did not respond to calls and questions delivered to the company's offices in Ouagadougou and its Montreal headquarters. A representative with law firm McMillan LLP Inc., which is listed in past security filings as counsel for Semafo, referred questions to the company. AMS hired mining consultant Patrick Hickey in March to draw up a proposal to fly all staff to and from the mine once a runway had been built there, Hickey told Reuters. On June 13, he sent his proposal to officials at Perenti, which was then called Ausdrill, according to an email seen by Reuters. John Kavanagh, AMS' former chief operating officer of African operations, presented the plan to Semafo soon afterwards, according to Hickey, who said he was not privy to Semafo's response. "Things were changing, and more and more we were going to have to fly employees out in Burkina. Not everyone had come to terms with that yet," Hickey said. Kavanagh did not respond to calls and an email seeking comment. Perenti and AMS declined to comment on Hickey's plan if it was shared with Semafo or what the Canadian company's response was. Around the time of the June meeting, Perenti sent bullet-proof vests for Burkinabe workers to wear on the journey to and from the mine, Kabre and his former colleague said. Perenti confirmed that body armour was offered to staff. But workers refused to wear it, fearing the expensive kit would attract armed assailants seeking to steal it. The unused vests are piled up in an office at the mine, they said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and Burkina Faso's President Roch Marc Kabore has referred to the assailants as unidentified "terrorist groups". Groups with links to Islamic State and al Qaeda operate in the country and have carried out similar attacks over the past year, security officials in the region have said. After the ambush, Semafo suspended operations at the mine in Burkina Faso's Est region and said it would not resume them until security in the area was assured. The company had this year started building an airstrip to increase transport capacity at the site. But initial plans included flying only expatriate employees and some high-level local staff, according to company documents and a former Semafo employee. A PowerPoint presentation prepared by Semafo in early May and seen by Reuters shows that the runway would be used by a single-pilot Cessna Grand Caravan plane that could hold 9-12 passengers. That plane was suitable only for flying a small number of employees, not a workforce of hundreds, said the former Semafo employee. "You would need to add additional planes." At the time, the company intended to fly the plane three times a week, the source said. He did not know if the plan had been altered since May. AMS and Perenti declined to say whether they supported Hickey's proposal to fly all employees. His plan called for two Beech 1900D propeller planes and a crew of four pilots to make multiple trips each week at an annual cost of between $3.4 million to $3.8 million, according to the emailed proposal seen by Reuters. Flying only senior management and expatriate staff would cost $1.5 million to $2 million, the proposal said. The runway was still under construction at the time of the November ambush, Kabre and the former mine employee said. It was not clear when it would be finished.

Mine workers demanded more protection before deadly Burkina Faso attack

The Burkina Faso army said on Sunday it had killed 32 "terrorists" in two operations in the north of the country after an attack on a patrol.

One soldier was killed in the operations, which come less than a month after 37 people were killed in an ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company.

The army said 24 people were killed in the first operation on Friday and a further eight in a second on Saturday.

The first operation in Yorsala in Loroum province saw a number of women who "had been held and used by the terrorists as sex slaves" freed.

Arms, ammunition and other materials were also recovered in the second operation on the outskirts of Bourzanga in Bam province, the army statement added.

The impoverished and politically fragile Sahel country has been struggling to quell a rising jihadist revolt that has claimed hundreds of lives since early 2015.

The attacks -- typically hit-and-run raids on villages, road mines and suicide bombings -- have claimed nearly 700 lives across the country since early 2015, according to an AFP toll.&nbsp;

Almost 500,000 people have also been forced to flee their homes.

The attacks have been claimed by a range of jihadist groups, including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The country's badly equipped, poorly trained and underfunded security forces have been unable to stem the violence, which has intensified throughout 2019 to become almost daily.

The Sahel region, including Burkina Faso's neighbours Mali and Niger, has been afflicted by the violence despite the presence of the regional G5 Sahel force as well as French and US troops.

The Burkina Faso army said on Sunday it had killed 32 "terrorists" in two operations in the north of the country after an attack on a patrol. One soldier was killed in the operations, which come less than a month after 37 people were killed in an ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company.

The Burkina Faso army said on Sunday it had killed 32 "terrorists" in two operations in the north of the country after an attack on a patrol. One soldier was killed in the operations, which come less than a month after 37 people were killed in an ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company. The army said 24 people were killed in the first operation on Friday and a further eight in a second on Saturday. The first operation in Yorsala in Loroum province saw a number of women who "had been held and used by the terrorists as sex slaves" freed. Arms, ammunition and other materials were also recovered in the second operation on the outskirts of Bourzanga in Bam province, the army statement added. The impoverished and politically fragile Sahel country has been struggling to quell a rising jihadist revolt that has claimed hundreds of lives since early 2015. The attacks -- typically hit-and-run raids on villages, road mines and suicide bombings -- have claimed nearly 700 lives across the country since early 2015, according to an AFP toll. Almost 500,000 people have also been forced to flee their homes. The attacks have been claimed by a range of jihadist groups, including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The country's badly equipped, poorly trained and underfunded security forces have been unable to stem the violence, which has intensified throughout 2019 to become almost daily. The Sahel region, including Burkina Faso's neighbours Mali and Niger, has been afflicted by the violence despite the presence of the regional G5 Sahel force as well as French and US troops.

Burkina Faso army says 32 'terrorists' killed in two operations

When an Islamist preacher took up the fight in Burkina Faso's northern borderlands almost a decade ago, his only weapon was a radio station. The words he spoke kindled the anger of a frustrated population and helped turn their homes into a breeding ground for jihad.

Residents of this parched region in the Sahel - a vast band of thorny scrub beneath the Sahara Desert - remember applauding Ibrahim "Malam" Dicko as he denounced his country's Western-backed government and racketeering police over the airwaves.

"We cheered," said Adama Kone, a 32-year-old teacher from the town of Djibo near the frontier with Mali, who was one of those thrilled by Dicko's words. "He understood our anger. He gave the Fulani youth new confidence."

Mostly herders, young men like Kone from the Fulani people were feeling hemmed in by more prosperous farmers, whom they felt the government in Ouagadougou favoured.

The preacher successfully exploited their conflicts over dwindling land and water resources, and the frustrations of people angered by corrupt and ineffective government, to launch the country's first indigenous jihadi movement. That cleared a path for groups affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Since Dicko's first broadcasts, Burkina Faso has become the focus of a determined jihadi campaign by three of West Africa's most dangerous armed groups who have carved out influence in nearly a third of the country, while much of the world was focused on the crisis in neighbouring Mali.

Militant Islamist fighters close schools, gun down Christians in their places of worship and booby-trap corpses to blow up first responders. At least <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/37-killed-in-burkina-fasos-deadliest-attack-in-five-years-260419">39 people died</a> last week in an ambush on a convoy ferrying workers from a Canadian-owned mine in the country. There has been no claim for that ambush, but the modus operandi – a bomb attack on military escorts followed by gunmen unleashing bullets – was characteristic of Islamist groups.

Since 2016, the violence has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced nearly 500,000 – most of them this year.

In 2019, at least 755 people had died through October in violence involving jihadist groups across Burkina Faso, according to Reuters' analysis of political violence events recorded by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, an NGO. Actual numbers are likely higher - researchers aren't always able to identify who is involved in the violence.

The teacher Kone is one of many of Dicko's former supporters who regret their earlier enthusiasm.

"We handed them the microphones in our mosques," he said. "By the time we realised what they were up to, it was too late."

He fled to Ouagadougou two years ago, after armed Islamists showed up at his school. More than 2,000 schools have closed due to the violence, the U.N. children's fund UNICEF said in August.

A lean, bespectacled Fulani from the north, Malam Dicko broadcast a message of equality and modesty. He reportedly died of an illness in late 2017, but his sermons channelled deep grievances in Burkina Faso's north where impoverished people have long been frustrated by corrupt officials.

The province of northern Burkina Faso where Dicko lived scores 2.7 on the United Nations Human Development Index, compared with 6 for the area around the capital, Ouagadougou. About 40 per cent&nbsp;of its children are stunted by malnutrition, against only 6 per cent&nbsp;in the capital, according to US&nbsp;AID.

From Ouagadougou to Djibo is a four-hour drive on a road which peters out into a sandy track. Sparse villages dot a landscape of sand and withered trees. Goats devour scrappy patches of grass.

Residents complain that their few interactions with the state tend to be predatory: Bureaucrats demand money to issue title deeds for houses, then never provide the papers; gendarmes charge up to $40 to take down a complaint; there are mysterious taxes and extortion at police roadblocks.

Lieutenant Colonel Kanou Coulibaly, a military police squadron commander and head of training for Burkina Faso's armed forces, acknowledged that northerners "feel marginalized and abandoned by the central government."

In about 2010 preacher Dicko, who had studied in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, began tapping this discontent, recalled Kone and other former Djibo residents. He denounced corruption by traditional religious leaders and practices that he deemed un-Islamic, including lavish wedding and naming ceremonies.

The movement he created, Ansarul Islam (Defenders of Islam), opened a path to militants from outside Burkina Faso — particularly Mali.

Early in 2013, French forces were pounding northern Mali to wrest control from al Qaeda-linked fighters who had seized the region the previous year. Dicko slipped over the border to join the militants, said Oumarou Ibrahim, a Sufi preacher who knew Dicko and was close to the No. 2 in his movement, Amadou Boly.

In Mali, Ibrahim said, Dicko linked up with Amadou Koufa, a fellow Fulani whose forces have unleashed turmoil on central Mali in recent years. French forces detained the pair near the border with Algeria; Dicko was released in 2015.

He set up his own training camp in a forest along the Mali-Burkina border, Kone, the teacher, and Ibrahim, the Sufi preacher, told Reuters.

Dicko forged ties with a group of Malian armed bandits who controlled drug and livestock trade routes.

On the radio that year, he urged youths to back him, "even at the cost of spilling blood."

For some years Burkina Faso's president, Blaise Compaore, had managed to keep good relations with Mali's Islamists. But in 2014, he tried to change the constitution to extend his 27-year-rule. Residents of the capital drove him from office.

Without Compaore, Burkina Faso became a target. Barely two weeks into a new presidency, in January 2016, an attack on the Splendid Hotel and a restaurant in Ouagadougou killed 30 people. It was claimed by al Qaeda-linked militants based in northern Mali.

Dicko became even more radical after that: He fell out with associates including his No. 2, Boly.

Ibrahim, the Sufi preacher, said Boly came to his house in Belhoro village in November 2016, agitated because Dicko had ordered him to raise cash to pay for AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers from Mali.

Boly refused. Dicko threatened him, Ibrahim said. Boly was either with him, "or with the whites and the colonisers."

Two weeks later, gunmen assassinated Boly outside his Djibo home. Ibrahim said he fled his own village the next day.

The teacher Kone, whose house was down the street, said he heard the gunshots that day. A wave of killings followed. The militants assassinated civil servants, blew up security posts, executed school teachers.

One day in May 2017, Kone was running late for school when he got a phone call from a colleague. Armed men from Dicko's movement had come and asked after him.

He shuttered the school and sped to Ouagadougou.

Now headed by Dicko's brother Jafar, Ansarul Islam was sanctioned by the United States in February 2018. None of its leaders could be reached.

It still controls much of Burkina Faso's northern border areas but two other groups have also built a presence on the country's borders, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations. Islamic State in the Greater Sahara dominates along the eastern frontier with Niger. And Koufa's Macina Liberation Front, which is closely aligned to al Qaeda, is active on the western border with Mali.

These spheres of influence can be loose: Fighters for all three are believed to cooperate with each other and with bandit groups.

Their attacks - including the kidnap and killing of a Canadian citizen in January claimed by Islamic State - are becoming more brutal. In one instance in March, a Burkinabe security official told Reuters, militants stitched a bomb inside a corpse and dressed it up in an army uniform, killing two medics - a technique used by Malian fighters.

Recent attacks on churches have killed about 20 people, and a priest was kidnapped in March.

The European Union and member states have committed 8 billion euros ($9 billion) over six years to tackling poverty in the region but so far, responses from Ouagadougou and the West have been predominantly military.

The United Nations has spent a billion dollars a year since 2014 on a 15,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali. Almost 200 members have been killed - its deadliest mission ever.

France has 4,500 troops stationed across the region. The United States has set up drone bases, held annual training exercises and sent 800 troops to the deserts of Niger. Led by France, Western powers have provided funding and training to a regional counter-terrorism force known as G5 Sahel made up of soldiers from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania.

Despite all this, Islamist violence has spread to places previously untouched by it, as tensions like those that first kindled support for Dicko intensify.

"You have a solution that is absolutely militarised to a problem that is absolutely political," said Rinaldo Depagne, West Africa project director at International Crisis Group, an independent think tank. "The security response is not addressing these problems."

The fact that a large number of recruits are Fulani has triggered a backlash by other ethnic groups, and those who have fled northern Burkina Faso say they had scant protection.

One woman said gunmen on motorbikes attacked her village, Biguelel, last December. The gunmen accused her family of colluding with "terrorists" simply because they were Fulani. They torched her home and shot her husband and dozens of others dead, but she escaped.

The next day the woman, Mariam Dicko, and about 40 others went to a military police post in the nearby town of Yirgou. "They said it was over now, so they couldn't help us," said Dicko - a common surname in the country.

Kanou, the military police commander, acknowledged that troops were sometimes not present when needed. "But when patrols are being attacked, it's more difficult," he added. "We have to take measures to protect ourselves."

As Western forces rely increasingly on their Sahel partners, rights groups and residents say they sometimes overlook abuses by locals.

Four witnesses described to Reuters summary executions of suspected insurgents during search operations. These included an incident in the village of Belhoro on February&nbsp;3, in which security forces ordered nine men out of their homes and shot them dead, according to two women who saw the killings.

New York-based Human Rights Watch documented 19 such incidents in a report in March, during which it says 116 men and boys were captured and killed by security forces.

The government said the army is committed to human rights and is investigating the allegations. "In our struggle there will necessarily be innocent victims, not because we want to, but because we are in a tough zone," Kanou said. U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young said America takes up any "mistakes" with the government.

In November 2018, Burkinabe forces raided the village home of a lab technician at a clinic in Djibo, accusing his 60-year-old father of being a terrorist, two friends of his told Reuters.

They killed the father in front of his son.

The following week, the technician, Jibril Dicko, didn't show up for work. His phone went dead.

Neighbours said he had gone to join the jihad.

When an Islamist preacher took up the fight in Burkina Faso's northern borderlands almost a decade ago, his only weapon was a radio station. The words he spoke kindled the anger of a frustrated population and helped turn their homes into a breeding ground for jihad.

When an Islamist preacher took up the fight in Burkina Faso's northern borderlands almost a decade ago, his only weapon was a radio station. The words he spoke kindled the anger of a frustrated population and helped turn their homes into a breeding ground for jihad. Residents of this parched region in the Sahel - a vast band of thorny scrub beneath the Sahara Desert - remember applauding Ibrahim "Malam" Dicko as he denounced his country's Western-backed government and racketeering police over the airwaves. "We cheered," said Adama Kone, a 32-year-old teacher from the town of Djibo near the frontier with Mali, who was one of those thrilled by Dicko's words. "He understood our anger. He gave the Fulani youth new confidence." Mostly herders, young men like Kone from the Fulani people were feeling hemmed in by more prosperous farmers, whom they felt the government in Ouagadougou favoured. The preacher successfully exploited their conflicts over dwindling land and water resources, and the frustrations of people angered by corrupt and ineffective government, to launch the country's first indigenous jihadi movement. That cleared a path for groups affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State. Since Dicko's first broadcasts, Burkina Faso has become the focus of a determined jihadi campaign by three of West Africa's most dangerous armed groups who have carved out influence in nearly a third of the country, while much of the world was focused on the crisis in neighbouring Mali. Militant Islamist fighters close schools, gun down Christians in their places of worship and booby-trap corpses to blow up first responders. At least 39 people died last week in an ambush on a convoy ferrying workers from a Canadian-owned mine in the country. There has been no claim for that ambush, but the modus operandi – a bomb attack on military escorts followed by gunmen unleashing bullets – was characteristic of Islamist groups. Since 2016, the violence has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced nearly 500,000 – most of them this year. In 2019, at least 755 people had died through October in violence involving jihadist groups across Burkina Faso, according to Reuters' analysis of political violence events recorded by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, an NGO. Actual numbers are likely higher - researchers aren't always able to identify who is involved in the violence. The teacher Kone is one of many of Dicko's former supporters who regret their earlier enthusiasm. "We handed them the microphones in our mosques," he said. "By the time we realised what they were up to, it was too late." He fled to Ouagadougou two years ago, after armed Islamists showed up at his school. More than 2,000 schools have closed due to the violence, the U.N. children's fund UNICEF said in August. A lean, bespectacled Fulani from the north, Malam Dicko broadcast a message of equality and modesty. He reportedly died of an illness in late 2017, but his sermons channelled deep grievances in Burkina Faso's north where impoverished people have long been frustrated by corrupt officials. The province of northern Burkina Faso where Dicko lived scores 2.7 on the United Nations Human Development Index, compared with 6 for the area around the capital, Ouagadougou. About 40 per cent of its children are stunted by malnutrition, against only 6 per cent in the capital, according to US AID. From Ouagadougou to Djibo is a four-hour drive on a road which peters out into a sandy track. Sparse villages dot a landscape of sand and withered trees. Goats devour scrappy patches of grass. Residents complain that their few interactions with the state tend to be predatory: Bureaucrats demand money to issue title deeds for houses, then never provide the papers; gendarmes charge up to $40 to take down a complaint; there are mysterious taxes and extortion at police roadblocks. Lieutenant Colonel Kanou Coulibaly, a military police squadron commander and head of training for Burkina Faso's armed forces, acknowledged that northerners "feel marginalized and abandoned by the central government." In about 2010 preacher Dicko, who had studied in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, began tapping this discontent, recalled Kone and other former Djibo residents. He denounced corruption by traditional religious leaders and practices that he deemed un-Islamic, including lavish wedding and naming ceremonies. The movement he created, Ansarul Islam (Defenders of Islam), opened a path to militants from outside Burkina Faso — particularly Mali. Early in 2013, French forces were pounding northern Mali to wrest control from al Qaeda-linked fighters who had seized the region the previous year. Dicko slipped over the border to join the militants, said Oumarou Ibrahim, a Sufi preacher who knew Dicko and was close to the No. 2 in his movement, Amadou Boly. In Mali, Ibrahim said, Dicko linked up with Amadou Koufa, a fellow Fulani whose forces have unleashed turmoil on central Mali in recent years. French forces detained the pair near the border with Algeria; Dicko was released in 2015. He set up his own training camp in a forest along the Mali-Burkina border, Kone, the teacher, and Ibrahim, the Sufi preacher, told Reuters. Dicko forged ties with a group of Malian armed bandits who controlled drug and livestock trade routes. On the radio that year, he urged youths to back him, "even at the cost of spilling blood." For some years Burkina Faso's president, Blaise Compaore, had managed to keep good relations with Mali's Islamists. But in 2014, he tried to change the constitution to extend his 27-year-rule. Residents of the capital drove him from office. Without Compaore, Burkina Faso became a target. Barely two weeks into a new presidency, in January 2016, an attack on the Splendid Hotel and a restaurant in Ouagadougou killed 30 people. It was claimed by al Qaeda-linked militants based in northern Mali. Dicko became even more radical after that: He fell out with associates including his No. 2, Boly. Ibrahim, the Sufi preacher, said Boly came to his house in Belhoro village in November 2016, agitated because Dicko had ordered him to raise cash to pay for AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers from Mali. Boly refused. Dicko threatened him, Ibrahim said. Boly was either with him, "or with the whites and the colonisers." Two weeks later, gunmen assassinated Boly outside his Djibo home. Ibrahim said he fled his own village the next day. The teacher Kone, whose house was down the street, said he heard the gunshots that day. A wave of killings followed. The militants assassinated civil servants, blew up security posts, executed school teachers. One day in May 2017, Kone was running late for school when he got a phone call from a colleague. Armed men from Dicko's movement had come and asked after him. He shuttered the school and sped to Ouagadougou. Now headed by Dicko's brother Jafar, Ansarul Islam was sanctioned by the United States in February 2018. None of its leaders could be reached. It still controls much of Burkina Faso's northern border areas but two other groups have also built a presence on the country's borders, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations. Islamic State in the Greater Sahara dominates along the eastern frontier with Niger. And Koufa's Macina Liberation Front, which is closely aligned to al Qaeda, is active on the western border with Mali. These spheres of influence can be loose: Fighters for all three are believed to cooperate with each other and with bandit groups. Their attacks - including the kidnap and killing of a Canadian citizen in January claimed by Islamic State - are becoming more brutal. In one instance in March, a Burkinabe security official told Reuters, militants stitched a bomb inside a corpse and dressed it up in an army uniform, killing two medics - a technique used by Malian fighters. Recent attacks on churches have killed about 20 people, and a priest was kidnapped in March. The European Union and member states have committed 8 billion euros ($9 billion) over six years to tackling poverty in the region but so far, responses from Ouagadougou and the West have been predominantly military. The United Nations has spent a billion dollars a year since 2014 on a 15,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali. Almost 200 members have been killed - its deadliest mission ever. France has 4,500 troops stationed across the region. The United States has set up drone bases, held annual training exercises and sent 800 troops to the deserts of Niger. Led by France, Western powers have provided funding and training to a regional counter-terrorism force known as G5 Sahel made up of soldiers from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania. Despite all this, Islamist violence has spread to places previously untouched by it, as tensions like those that first kindled support for Dicko intensify. "You have a solution that is absolutely militarised to a problem that is absolutely political," said Rinaldo Depagne, West Africa project director at International Crisis Group, an independent think tank. "The security response is not addressing these problems." The fact that a large number of recruits are Fulani has triggered a backlash by other ethnic groups, and those who have fled northern Burkina Faso say they had scant protection. One woman said gunmen on motorbikes attacked her village, Biguelel, last December. The gunmen accused her family of colluding with "terrorists" simply because they were Fulani. They torched her home and shot her husband and dozens of others dead, but she escaped. The next day the woman, Mariam Dicko, and about 40 others went to a military police post in the nearby town of Yirgou. "They said it was over now, so they couldn't help us," said Dicko - a common surname in the country. Kanou, the military police commander, acknowledged that troops were sometimes not present when needed. "But when patrols are being attacked, it's more difficult," he added. "We have to take measures to protect ourselves." As Western forces rely increasingly on their Sahel partners, rights groups and residents say they sometimes overlook abuses by locals. Four witnesses described to Reuters summary executions of suspected insurgents during search operations. These included an incident in the village of Belhoro on February 3, in which security forces ordered nine men out of their homes and shot them dead, according to two women who saw the killings. New York-based Human Rights Watch documented 19 such incidents in a report in March, during which it says 116 men and boys were captured and killed by security forces. The government said the army is committed to human rights and is investigating the allegations. "In our struggle there will necessarily be innocent victims, not because we want to, but because we are in a tough zone," Kanou said. U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young said America takes up any "mistakes" with the government. In November 2018, Burkinabe forces raided the village home of a lab technician at a clinic in Djibo, accusing his 60-year-old father of being a terrorist, two friends of his told Reuters. They killed the father in front of his son. The following week, the technician, Jibril Dicko, didn't show up for work. His phone went dead. Neighbours said he had gone to join the jihad.

How a preacher sent gunmen into Burkina Faso's schools

An ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company in&nbsp;Burkina&nbsp;Faso&nbsp;killed&nbsp;37&nbsp;people on Wednesday, the&nbsp;deadliest&nbsp;attack&nbsp;in nearly&nbsp;five&nbsp;years&nbsp;of jihadist violence in the West African country.

The impoverished and politically fragile Sahel country has been struggling to quell a rising jihadist revolt that has claimed hundreds of lives since early 2015.

On Wednesday morning "unidentified armed individuals" ambushed&nbsp;five&nbsp;buses carrying local employees, contractors and suppliers of the Samafo mining company, said Saidou Sanou, the governor of the country's Est Region.&nbsp;

As well as the&nbsp;37&nbsp;civilians&nbsp;killed, 60 were wounded, he said.

Mine owner Semafo Inc. said the&nbsp;five&nbsp;buses escorted by the military were approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Boungou gold mine in the Tapoa province when they were ambushed.

A security source said, "a military vehicle that was escorting the convoy hit an explosive device".

"Two buses carrying workers were then fired upon," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.&nbsp;

Burkina&nbsp;Faso's government said the gunmen had conducted a "complex&nbsp;attack", adding that defence and security forces had launched a relief operation and were searching the area.

It was the third deadly&nbsp;attack&nbsp;on Canadian firm Semafo, which operates two mines in&nbsp;Burkina&nbsp;Faso, in 15 months.

"We are actively working with all levels of authorities to ensure the ongoing safety and security of our employees, contractors and suppliers," Semafo said in a statement, offering condolences to the families of the victims.

The mine itself, it added, remains secure and its operations had not been affected.&nbsp;

Two separate attacks on convoys carrying Boungou mine employees in August and December last year&nbsp;killed&nbsp;11 people.

The company blamed "armed bandits" for last year's attacks, and subsequently reinforced its armed escorts.

The&nbsp;Burkina&nbsp;Faso&nbsp;government this year asked mining companies to make their own arrangements to transport their employees, according to sources close to the miners.

Burkina&nbsp;Faso's northern provinces have been battling a nearly&nbsp;five-year wave of jihadist violence that came from neighbouring Mali.

The attacks,&nbsp;typically hit-and-run raids on villages, road mines and suicide bombings,&nbsp;have claimed nearly 700 lives across the country since early 2015, according to an AFP toll.&nbsp;

Almost 500,000 people have also been forced to flee their homes.

The attacks have been claimed by a range of jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The country's badly equipped, poorly trained and underfunded security forces have been unable to stem the violence, which has intensified throughout 2019 to become almost daily.

The Sahel region, including&nbsp;Burkina&nbsp;Faso's neighbours Mali and Niger, has been afflicted by the violence despite the presence of the regional G5 Sahel force as well as French and US troops.

Burkina&nbsp;Faso's previous&nbsp;deadliest&nbsp;attack&nbsp;was in January 2016, when jihadists raided the Splendid Hotel and a cafe in the capital Ouagadougou, killing 30 people, around half of them foreign nationals.

In August this year, the army suffered its worst&nbsp;attack&nbsp;with 24 soldiers&nbsp;killed&nbsp;in an assault on a base in Koutougou, near the Mali border.

On Monday, an&nbsp;attack&nbsp;on a base in northern&nbsp;Burkina&nbsp;Faso&nbsp;killed&nbsp;at least&nbsp;five&nbsp;gendarmes and&nbsp;five&nbsp;civilians.

An ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company in Burkina Faso killed 37 people on Wednesday, the deadliest attack in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African country.

An ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company in Burkina Faso killed 37 people on Wednesday, the deadliest attack in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African country. The impoverished and politically fragile Sahel country has been struggling to quell a rising jihadist revolt that has claimed hundreds of lives since early 2015. On Wednesday morning "unidentified armed individuals" ambushed five buses carrying local employees, contractors and suppliers of the Samafo mining company, said Saidou Sanou, the governor of the country's Est Region. As well as the 37 civilians killed, 60 were wounded, he said. Mine owner Semafo Inc. said the five buses escorted by the military were approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Boungou gold mine in the Tapoa province when they were ambushed. A security source said, "a military vehicle that was escorting the convoy hit an explosive device". "Two buses carrying workers were then fired upon," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Burkina Faso's government said the gunmen had conducted a "complex attack", adding that defence and security forces had launched a relief operation and were searching the area. It was the third deadly attack on Canadian firm Semafo, which operates two mines in Burkina Faso, in 15 months. "We are actively working with all levels of authorities to ensure the ongoing safety and security of our employees, contractors and suppliers," Semafo said in a statement, offering condolences to the families of the victims. The mine itself, it added, remains secure and its operations had not been affected. Two separate attacks on convoys carrying Boungou mine employees in August and December last year killed 11 people. The company blamed "armed bandits" for last year's attacks, and subsequently reinforced its armed escorts. The Burkina Faso government this year asked mining companies to make their own arrangements to transport their employees, according to sources close to the miners. Burkina Faso's northern provinces have been battling a nearly five-year wave of jihadist violence that came from neighbouring Mali. The attacks, typically hit-and-run raids on villages, road mines and suicide bombings, have claimed nearly 700 lives across the country since early 2015, according to an AFP toll. Almost 500,000 people have also been forced to flee their homes. The attacks have been claimed by a range of jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The country's badly equipped, poorly trained and underfunded security forces have been unable to stem the violence, which has intensified throughout 2019 to become almost daily. The Sahel region, including Burkina Faso's neighbours Mali and Niger, has been afflicted by the violence despite the presence of the regional G5 Sahel force as well as French and US troops. Burkina Faso's previous deadliest attack was in January 2016, when jihadists raided the Splendid Hotel and a cafe in the capital Ouagadougou, killing 30 people, around half of them foreign nationals. In August this year, the army suffered its worst attack with 24 soldiers killed in an assault on a base in Koutougou, near the Mali border. On Monday, an attack on a base in northern Burkina Faso killed at least five gendarmes and five civilians.

37 killed in Burkina Faso's deadliest attack in five years

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appealed for citizens to unite behind the country's army after the latest <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/attack-on-mali-military-post-kills-53-soldiers-259378">deadly militant strike</a> killed more than 40 soldiers.

The president has declared three days of mourning after Friday's attack on an army base in Indelimane, the northeast of the country near the border with Niger.

"In these particularly serious circumstances where the stability and existence of our country are at stake, our only response must be national unity, the sacred union around our national army," he said in a statement Monday night.

He added that the support of foreign forces, including from France, Africa and the United Nations, is "necessary more than ever".

Friday's assault was the latest to target Mali's military, which is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that began in the north and spread to the centre of the country. At least 40 troops were killed a month ago in a double attack near the Burkina Faso border.

Islamic State-allied militants claimed responsibility for the Indelimane strike during which gunmen on motorbikes attacked the base in three different groups, according to Malian army sources and a UN document seen by AFP.

Authorities say at least 49 soldiers were killed.

Over the weekend two more Malian soldiers were also killed by a roadside bomb and a French soldier was also killed when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.

Northern Mali fell into the hands of jihadists in 2012 before the militants were forced out by a French-led military intervention. But the jihadists have regrouped to carry out hit-and-run strikes in violence that has spread to central Mali.

France still has around 4,500 troops in the country as part of its Barkhane operation and is looking to hand more responsibility to local forces.

French Armed Forces Minister, Florence Parly, on an official visit to the Sahel called for "patience" in the battle against the militants.

"This is a fight where we have to have patience," she said on a visit to Barkhane operations in the Chad capital N'Djamena. "We still need time for the local forces to build up their resilience."

Neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger have also been infiltrated by insurgents, at the cost of hundreds of lives.

The G5 Sahel, a five-nation joint taskforce set up in 2014 to tackle the jihadist threat, is also active in the region. It comprises troops from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appealed for citizens to unite behind the country's army after the latest deadly militant strike killed more than 40 soldiers.

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appealed for citizens to unite behind the country's army after the latest deadly militant strike killed more than 40 soldiers. The president has declared three days of mourning after Friday's attack on an army base in Indelimane, the northeast of the country near the border with Niger. "In these particularly serious circumstances where the stability and existence of our country are at stake, our only response must be national unity, the sacred union around our national army," he said in a statement Monday night. He added that the support of foreign forces, including from France, Africa and the United Nations, is "necessary more than ever". Friday's assault was the latest to target Mali's military, which is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that began in the north and spread to the centre of the country. At least 40 troops were killed a month ago in a double attack near the Burkina Faso border. Islamic State-allied militants claimed responsibility for the Indelimane strike during which gunmen on motorbikes attacked the base in three different groups, according to Malian army sources and a UN document seen by AFP. Authorities say at least 49 soldiers were killed. Over the weekend two more Malian soldiers were also killed by a roadside bomb and a French soldier was also killed when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Northern Mali fell into the hands of jihadists in 2012 before the militants were forced out by a French-led military intervention. But the jihadists have regrouped to carry out hit-and-run strikes in violence that has spread to central Mali. France still has around 4,500 troops in the country as part of its Barkhane operation and is looking to hand more responsibility to local forces. French Armed Forces Minister, Florence Parly, on an official visit to the Sahel called for "patience" in the battle against the militants. "This is a fight where we have to have patience," she said on a visit to Barkhane operations in the Chad capital N'Djamena. "We still need time for the local forces to build up their resilience." Neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger have also been infiltrated by insurgents, at the cost of hundreds of lives. The G5 Sahel, a five-nation joint taskforce set up in 2014 to tackle the jihadist threat, is also active in the region. It comprises troops from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.

Mali president says stability at stake after deadly army base attack

"We have nothing," says Belen Boureima, a 74-year-old farmer, as his weathered face contemplates a scrap of land in the remote village he and his family must now call home.

"But it's better to be alive here than to stay in Djibo and die", he added.

Djibo, a dusty town in northern <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dozens-dead-in-islamist-attack-in-burkina-faso-human-rights-watch-204817">Burkina Faso</a>, has become a byword for suffering in this impoverished country's seven-year-old struggle with jihadism.

More than 580 people have been killed since the insurgency spilled over from neighbouring Mali, according to an AFP tally.

Attacks on emblems of the state, hit-and-run raids on remote villages and brutal interpretation of Islamic law have forced an estimated 300,000 people to flee their homes.&nbsp;

Among them is&nbsp;Boureima, head of a family of 43 people - seven men, 13 women, and 23 children.

They abandoned their village Gassalpalik, 70 kilometres from Djibo, eventually washing up in Yagma, a village about 30 km north of the capital Ouagadougou.

Belen said that he had spent his entire life in Djibo and had never even left the area until now - but "when you are lost, you have to end up somewhere."

In this alien landscape, the family has no friends or contacts. The head of the village has appointed a "tutor" to help the family, who are members of the Mossi ethnic group, get their bearings.

"The attackers took everything from us - cows, sheep, goats... They were armed and came on motorbikes," the patriarch recalled.

"They went into people's homes and took animals and killed the men. I saw people getting killed. Many of them," he said, adding he was unable to give any accurate figure.

"They also took three men from the village, and we have no news of their whereabouts", he added.

The attack happened despite patrols by the security forces, he said.

"I don't understand," he said. "We don't know what they <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/french-special-forces-rescue-four-hostages-from-burkina-faso-217512">(the jihadists)</a> want. The teachers fled. The health centre closed. We were afraid. The only way out was to flee."

The family hurriedly bundled up its meagre possessions and the little money it had.

"Everyone in the village fled. It was a free-for-all... We don't know what has become of the village -- nobody lives there now, except perhaps for birds", he said.

He added: "We have absolutely nothing here. We have swallowed our shame.... It's desperate."

Sweeping stones 
 
Bintou, an older member of the group said that the family was at least able to sleep peacefully in their beds, but that was little consolation to what they had lost.

"Before the start (of the jihadist) attacks, we had a happy life, we grew crops, we lived in our own home, we had cattle and we were never hungry," she said.

"Here, we sweep stones" to sell to construction sites, she said.

"We sell them at $1.68 a pile, but sometimes you have to wait three days before making a sale. We cannot feed the children", she added.

The family are living in homes which have been made available for free by the villagers, but it has no land - a crucial source of nutrition and income in a place where there is no work.

Nabonswende Zongo, an elderly villager who has been appointed to help the family, said the situation was "difficult."

"If there is peace, they will go back. I am happy to help them. We are all brothers. I hope to do what I can, but have no idea what the future holds. I'm afraid and hope that what happened there won't come here", Zongo added.

"We have nothing," says Belen Boureima, a 74-year-old farmer, as his weathered face contemplates a scrap of land in the remote village he and his family must now call home.

"We have nothing," says Belen Boureima, a 74-year-old farmer, as his weathered face contemplates a scrap of land in the remote village he and his family must now call home. "But it's better to be alive here than to stay in Djibo and die", he added. Djibo, a dusty town in northern Burkina Faso, has become a byword for suffering in this impoverished country's seven-year-old struggle with jihadism. More than 580 people have been killed since the insurgency spilled over from neighbouring Mali, according to an AFP tally. Attacks on emblems of the state, hit-and-run raids on remote villages and brutal interpretation of Islamic law have forced an estimated 300,000 people to flee their homes. Among them is Boureima, head of a family of 43 people - seven men, 13 women, and 23 children. They abandoned their village Gassalpalik, 70 kilometres from Djibo, eventually washing up in Yagma, a village about 30 km north of the capital Ouagadougou. Belen said that he had spent his entire life in Djibo and had never even left the area until now - but "when you are lost, you have to end up somewhere." In this alien landscape, the family has no friends or contacts. The head of the village has appointed a "tutor" to help the family, who are members of the Mossi ethnic group, get their bearings. "The attackers took everything from us - cows, sheep, goats... They were armed and came on motorbikes," the patriarch recalled. "They went into people's homes and took animals and killed the men. I saw people getting killed. Many of them," he said, adding he was unable to give any accurate figure. "They also took three men from the village, and we have no news of their whereabouts", he added. The attack happened despite patrols by the security forces, he said. "I don't understand," he said. "We don't know what they (the jihadists) want. The teachers fled. The health centre closed. We were afraid. The only way out was to flee." The family hurriedly bundled up its meagre possessions and the little money it had. "Everyone in the village fled. It was a free-for-all... We don't know what has become of the village -- nobody lives there now, except perhaps for birds", he said. He added: "We have absolutely nothing here. We have swallowed our shame.... It's desperate." Sweeping stones Bintou, an older member of the group said that the family was at least able to sleep peacefully in their beds, but that was little consolation to what they had lost. "Before the start (of the jihadist) attacks, we had a happy life, we grew crops, we lived in our own home, we had cattle and we were never hungry," she said. "Here, we sweep stones" to sell to construction sites, she said. "We sell them at $1.68 a pile, but sometimes you have to wait three days before making a sale. We cannot feed the children", she added. The family are living in homes which have been made available for free by the villagers, but it has no land - a crucial source of nutrition and income in a place where there is no work. Nabonswende Zongo, an elderly villager who has been appointed to help the family, said the situation was "difficult." "If there is peace, they will go back. I am happy to help them. We are all brothers. I hope to do what I can, but have no idea what the future holds. I'm afraid and hope that what happened there won't come here", Zongo added.

To flee or to die: Life in Jihadi-controlled Burkina Faso remains hard

Nine people have been killed in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso, a region bearing the brunt of a jihadist revolt, officials said on Monday.

"Six people were killed by armed men overnight Saturday at Pissele, near Bourzanga", a security official said.

Bourzanga is located about 50 kilometres south of Djibo, a hotspot for jihadist attacks.

A local administrative official said three people "were shot dead in the village of Bool-Kiiba," and their bodies were found after the assailants left.

Others were unaccounted for, the official said, adding that the attackers also looted possessions, including motorbikes.

A security official confirmed that an<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dozens-dead-in-islamist-attack-in-burkina-faso-human-rights-watch-204817"> attack</a> on Bool-Kiiba had taken place but was unable to give a toll.

Burkina Faso has become part of a<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/12-civilians-killed-during-a-jihadist-attack-in-burkina-faso-189707"> seven-year-old jihadist insurgency</a> in the poor, fragile Sahel region.

More than 580 people have been killed since early 2015, according to an AFP toll.&nbsp;

Many of the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/gunmen-kill-six-in-burkina-faso-catholic-church-sources-218146">attacks</a> have been attributed to groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda, and others to the so-called Islamic State group.

On Thursday, five soldiers were killed in an ambush at Toeni, in the northwestern province of Sourou.

Nine people have been killed in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso, a region bearing the brunt of a jihadist revolt, officials said on Monday. "Six people were killed by armed men overnight Saturday at Pissele, near Bourzanga", a security official said.

Nine people have been killed in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso, a region bearing the brunt of a jihadist revolt, officials said on Monday. "Six people were killed by armed men overnight Saturday at Pissele, near Bourzanga", a security official said. Bourzanga is located about 50 kilometres south of Djibo, a hotspot for jihadist attacks. A local administrative official said three people "were shot dead in the village of Bool-Kiiba," and their bodies were found after the assailants left. Others were unaccounted for, the official said, adding that the attackers also looted possessions, including motorbikes. A security official confirmed that an attack on Bool-Kiiba had taken place but was unable to give a toll. Burkina Faso has become part of a seven-year-old jihadist insurgency in the poor, fragile Sahel region. More than 580 people have been killed since early 2015, according to an AFP toll. Many of the attacks have been attributed to groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda, and others to the so-called Islamic State group. On Thursday, five soldiers were killed in an ambush at Toeni, in the northwestern province of Sourou.

Burkina Faso: Nine people killed in Jihadist attacks

French forces freed four hostages, including an American and South Korean, during a night-time rescue in Burkina Faso in which two soldiers were killed, according to a statement from France's Elysee Palace on Friday.

Breaking: Two soldiers killed in French-led rescue of four hostages in Burkina Faso

The French special forces have rescued four hostages in an overnight military raid from northern Burkina Faso, the French Presidency said on Friday.

The hostages include two Frenchmen, an American and a South Korean. The French hostages are identified as Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas. Two other hostages' identities were not immediately known, but they were both said to be women.

Four of them will&nbsp;fly&nbsp;to France on Saturday.&nbsp;They will arrive at the Villacoublay military airfield near Paris and be greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron, reports said.

Two French soldiers were killed during the military raid.

The French tourists were kidnapped in Benin and were taken over the border into Burkina Faso, where Islamist terror groups have stepped up attacks in recent months.

A statement from the Presidency said, '' President Emmanuel Macron wants to congratulate the French armed forces for the liberation of the hostages, and includes everyone who worked alongside them."

"He bows with emotion and solemnity before the sacrifice of our two soldiers who gave their lives to save those of our citizens," the statement added.

In a separate statement, Defence Minister Florence Parly thanked authorities in Benin and Burkina Faso, as well as the United States for its "precious support" in the operation.

The French special forces have rescued four hostages in an overnight military raid from northern Burkina Faso, the French Presidency said on Friday. The hostages include two Frenchmen, an American and a South Korean.

The French special forces have rescued four hostages in an overnight military raid from northern Burkina Faso, the French Presidency said on Friday. The hostages include two Frenchmen, an American and a South Korean. The French hostages are identified as Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas. Two other hostages' identities were not immediately known, but they were both said to be women. Four of them will fly to France on Saturday. They will arrive at the Villacoublay military airfield near Paris and be greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron, reports said. Two French soldiers were killed during the military raid. The French tourists were kidnapped in Benin and were taken over the border into Burkina Faso, where Islamist terror groups have stepped up attacks in recent months. A statement from the Presidency said, '' President Emmanuel Macron wants to congratulate the French armed forces for the liberation of the hostages, and includes everyone who worked alongside them." "He bows with emotion and solemnity before the sacrifice of our two soldiers who gave their lives to save those of our citizens," the statement added. In a separate statement, Defence Minister Florence Parly thanked authorities in Benin and Burkina Faso, as well as the United States for its "precious support" in the operation.

French special forces rescue four hostages from Burkina Faso

An offensive by Islamists in northern Burkina Faso has left dozens of civilians dead and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

"Atrocities by Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso's northern Sahel region and by security forces during counterterrorism operations have left scores dead and created widespread fear and displacement," the group said in a 62-page report.

"The violence has forced tens of thousands of villagers to flee since early 2019," it said.

"Scores of people have been murdered in what amounts to a dramatic deterioration in the rights situation in northern Burkina Faso," said Corinne Dufka, Sahel director at Human Rights Watch.

"Villagers are living in fear as both armed Islamists and government forces have demonstrated utter disregard for human life."

More than 100,000 people have been displaced in the poor former French colony, over half of them since the start of 2019, officials have said.

Around 4.3 million people have been driven from their homes in the worsening violence that has engulfed the entire Sahel region, including one million over the past year, according to UN humanitarian officials.

Jihadist groups have gained ground in central Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, while Chad is battling unrest on its borders.

Since 2015, more than 300 people have been killed, typically in hit-and-run raids, and the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times.

An offensive by Islamists in northern Burkina Faso has left dozens of civilians dead and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

An offensive by Islamists in northern Burkina Faso has left dozens of civilians dead and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, Human Rights Watch said Friday. "Atrocities by Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso's northern Sahel region and by security forces during counterterrorism operations have left scores dead and created widespread fear and displacement," the group said in a 62-page report. "The violence has forced tens of thousands of villagers to flee since early 2019," it said. "Scores of people have been murdered in what amounts to a dramatic deterioration in the rights situation in northern Burkina Faso," said Corinne Dufka, Sahel director at Human Rights Watch. "Villagers are living in fear as both armed Islamists and government forces have demonstrated utter disregard for human life." More than 100,000 people have been displaced in the poor former French colony, over half of them since the start of 2019, officials have said. Around 4.3 million people have been driven from their homes in the worsening violence that has engulfed the entire Sahel region, including one million over the past year, according to UN humanitarian officials. Jihadist groups have gained ground in central Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, while Chad is battling unrest on its borders. Since 2015, more than 300 people have been killed, typically in hit-and-run raids, and the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times.

Dozens dead in Islamist attack in Burkina Faso: Human Rights Watch

Twelve civilians were killed on Thursday during a jihadist attack in the north of Burkina Faso, which has been battling a wave of Islamist violence, officials said Friday.

The west African country declared a state of emergency in several provinces at the end of last year and on Thursday replaced its army chief as it struggled to put a stop to a spate of such attacks.&nbsp;

In the latest violence, gunmen attacked a village market in broad daylight, the security ministry said in a statement issued late Friday.

"Around 30 armed individuals perpetrated... a terrorist attack in the village of Gasseliki," it said, giving a toll of 12 dead and two wounded.

"A barn, a cart and six shops were also set alight," it added.

A local source told AFP that the attackers "ransacked stores and opened fire on people who had gathered for the weekly market".

Jihadist attacks began in northern Burkina Faso in 2015 but then spread to the east, near the border with Togo and Benin.

The country is part of the vast Sahel region and one of the poorest states in the world.

The region turned into a hotbed of violent extremism and lawlessness after chaos engulfed Libya in 2011, which was followed by an Islamist insurgency in northern Mali and the rise of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

Most attacks in Burkina Faso itself have been attributed to the jihadist group Ansarul Islam, which emerged near the Mali border in December 2016, and to the JNIM (the Group to Support Islam and Muslims), which has sworn allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Ansarul Islam emerged as violence spilled over from Mali, where radical Islamists seized key Sahara towns in 2012 before being ousted by French troops.

Smaller groups are also active, with the overall number of fighters estimated to be in the hundreds, according to security sources.

The groups are believed to be responsible for more than 270 deaths since 2015. The capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times and almost 60 people have died there.

The jihadists extend their hold gradually, forcing government workers and others who oppose them to flee. The violence has so far displaced some 40,000 people.

In the north, armed groups move freely through the country's porous borders.

The jihadists mainly target the security forces, but also attack government officials and local chiefs who oppose them.

Teachers are vulnerable due to the jihadists' fierce opposition to secular, French education, with their threats and attacks sparking the closure of hundreds of schools in the north and the east.

As the country struggles to get on top of the violence, army chief Major General Oumarou Sadou was replaced on Thursday by General Moise Minoungou, according to a presidential decree read on public television.

Twelve civilians were killed on Thursday during a jihadist attack in the north of Burkina Faso, which has been battling a wave of Islamist violence, officials said Friday.

Twelve civilians were killed on Thursday during a jihadist attack in the north of Burkina Faso, which has been battling a wave of Islamist violence, officials said Friday. The west African country declared a state of emergency in several provinces at the end of last year and on Thursday replaced its army chief as it struggled to put a stop to a spate of such attacks. In the latest violence, gunmen attacked a village market in broad daylight, the security ministry said in a statement issued late Friday. "Around 30 armed individuals perpetrated... a terrorist attack in the village of Gasseliki," it said, giving a toll of 12 dead and two wounded. "A barn, a cart and six shops were also set alight," it added. A local source told AFP that the attackers "ransacked stores and opened fire on people who had gathered for the weekly market". Jihadist attacks began in northern Burkina Faso in 2015 but then spread to the east, near the border with Togo and Benin. The country is part of the vast Sahel region and one of the poorest states in the world. The region turned into a hotbed of violent extremism and lawlessness after chaos engulfed Libya in 2011, which was followed by an Islamist insurgency in northern Mali and the rise of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. Most attacks in Burkina Faso itself have been attributed to the jihadist group Ansarul Islam, which emerged near the Mali border in December 2016, and to the JNIM (the Group to Support Islam and Muslims), which has sworn allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Ansarul Islam emerged as violence spilled over from Mali, where radical Islamists seized key Sahara towns in 2012 before being ousted by French troops. Smaller groups are also active, with the overall number of fighters estimated to be in the hundreds, according to security sources. The groups are believed to be responsible for more than 270 deaths since 2015. The capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times and almost 60 people have died there. The jihadists extend their hold gradually, forcing government workers and others who oppose them to flee. The violence has so far displaced some 40,000 people. In the north, armed groups move freely through the country's porous borders. The jihadists mainly target the security forces, but also attack government officials and local chiefs who oppose them. Teachers are vulnerable due to the jihadists' fierce opposition to secular, French education, with their threats and attacks sparking the closure of hundreds of schools in the north and the east. As the country struggles to get on top of the violence, army chief Major General Oumarou Sadou was replaced on Thursday by General Moise Minoungou, according to a presidential decree read on public television.

12 civilians killed during a jihadist attack in Burkina Faso

At least six police officers were killed in an ambush with a homemade explosive device in the northern Burkina Faso town of Solle near the border with Mali, security sources told AFP Saturday.

"A police convoy ran into an ambush in Solle" late Friday, a security source said. "The leading vehicle ran over a mine and six were killed."

At least six police officers were killed in an ambush with a homemade explosive device in the northern Burkina Faso town of Solle near the border with Mali, security sources told AFP Saturday.

At least six police officers were killed in an ambush with a homemade explosive device in the northern Burkina Faso town of Solle near the border with Mali, security sources told AFP Saturday. "A police convoy ran into an ambush in Solle" late Friday, a security source said. "The leading vehicle ran over a mine and six were killed."

At least six police dead in Burkina Faso blast: Sources

The Sahel state of Burkina Faso announced&nbspThursday&nbspthat it was breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

"The Burkina government decided today to break off its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan," Foreign Minister Alpha Barry&nbspsaid, in an announcement that follows a string of similar moves by African states since 2000.

"Since 1994, Burkina Faso has had cooperation relations with Taiwan," Barry said in a statement.

"But today, changes in the world, the current socio-economic challenges facing our country and our region call on us to reconsider our position."

The foreign minister did not mention whether Burkina Faso would switch diplomatic ties to China.

China considers Taiwan to be a renegade province.

The two have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries. Economic support and other aid are often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition.

China has notched up a string of successes south of the Sahara, where it has gained a high profile in infrastructure projects, especially in transport.

"President Roch Marc Kabore has instructed me... to take all necessary steps to close our embassy in Taipei and Taiwan's (embassy) in our country," Barry said.

"This decision is guided by the firm will to defend the interests of Burkina and its people in the community of nations, and to develop better partnerships in order to strengthen our country's socio-economic progress."

A landlocked country of 18 million people on the southern rim of the Sahara, Burkina Faso is one of the poorest nations of the world.

It ranked 185th out of 188 states in the UN's Human Development Index for 2016.

"Since 1994, Burkina Faso has had cooperation relations with Taiwan," Barry said

The Sahel state of Burkina Faso announced&nbspThursday&nbspthat it was breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan. "The Burkina government decided today to break off its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan," Foreign Minister Alpha Barry&nbspsaid, in an announcement that follows a string of similar moves by African states since 2000. "Since 1994, Burkina Faso has had cooperation relations with Taiwan," Barry said in a statement. "But today, changes in the world, the current socio-economic challenges facing our country and our region call on us to reconsider our position." The foreign minister did not mention whether Burkina Faso would switch diplomatic ties to China. China considers Taiwan to be a renegade province. The two have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries. Economic support and other aid are often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition. China has notched up a string of successes south of the Sahara, where it has gained a high profile in infrastructure projects, especially in transport. "President Roch Marc Kabore has instructed me... to take all necessary steps to close our embassy in Taipei and Taiwan's (embassy) in our country," Barry said. "This decision is guided by the firm will to defend the interests of Burkina and its people in the community of nations, and to develop better partnerships in order to strengthen our country's socio-economic progress." A landlocked country of 18 million people on the southern rim of the Sahara, Burkina Faso is one of the poorest nations of the world. It ranked 185th out of 188 states in the UN's Human Development Index for 2016.

Burkina Faso breaks diplomatic ties with Taiwan

Taiwan's foreign minister&nbsp;Joseph Wu resigned today after Burkina Faso announced it was cutting diplomatic ties with the island nation.

China considers Taiwan as a breakway province and has been conducting military drills in Taiwan Straits for the past one month.

"I have already verbally tendered my resignation to the president," Wu told a press conference.

The Dominican Republic had earlier in the month broken ties with Taiwan.

In a&nbsp;statement, Burkina Faso's foreign minister Alpha Barry said his country was breaking diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.

"Since 1994, Burkina Faso has had cooperation relations with Taiwan," Barry said in a statement, adding, "but today, changes in the world, the current socio-economic challenges facing our country and our region call on us to reconsider our position."

Taiwan now has diplomatic relations with only 18 countries.&nbsp;

"President Roch Marc Kabore has instructed me... to take all necessary steps to close our embassy in Taipei and Taiwan's (embassy) in our country," Barry said.

"This decision is guided by the firm will to defend the interests of Burkina and its people in the community of nations, and to develop better partnerships in order to strengthen our country's socio-economic progress," the foreign minister added. 
&nbsp;

Taiwan now has diplomatic relations with only 18 countries.

Taiwan's foreign minister Joseph Wu resigned today after Burkina Faso announced it was cutting diplomatic ties with the island nation. China considers Taiwan as a breakway province and has been conducting military drills in Taiwan Straits for the past one month. "I have already verbally tendered my resignation to the president," Wu told a press conference. The Dominican Republic had earlier in the month broken ties with Taiwan. In a statement, Burkina Faso's foreign minister Alpha Barry said his country was breaking diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. "Since 1994, Burkina Faso has had cooperation relations with Taiwan," Barry said in a statement, adding, "but today, changes in the world, the current socio-economic challenges facing our country and our region call on us to reconsider our position." Taiwan now has diplomatic relations with only 18 countries. "President Roch Marc Kabore has instructed me... to take all necessary steps to close our embassy in Taipei and Taiwan's (embassy) in our country," Barry said. "This decision is guided by the firm will to defend the interests of Burkina and its people in the community of nations, and to develop better partnerships in order to strengthen our country's socio-economic progress," the foreign minister added.

China effect? Now, Burkina Faso cuts diplomatic ties with Taiwan

Security forces in Burkina Faso have carried out extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests and other abuses in their campaign against terrorism, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday.

A 60-page report by the US-based watchdog said Sahel villagers found themselves caught between jihadists, who threatened to kill those who collaborated with the government, and the security forces, who expected local people to give them information about the insurgents.

HRW said it had documented the execution-style killing by Islamists of 19 men from 12 villages who had been accused of providing tips to the security forces.

On the government's side, witnesses implicated the security forces in "at least" 14 alleged summary executions and said four other men died in custody from mistreatment.

"Many witnesses described seeing bodies -– often blindfolded and with their hands bound -– along local roads and footpaths in northern Burkina Faso," the report said.

"The majority of victims were last seen in the custody of government security forces."&nbsp

Northern Burkina Faso has been in the grip of a jihadist insurgency since 2016.

Armed groups including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) have attacked army bases, police and gendarme posts and carried out a campaign of intimidation against officials and teachers.

The violence has killed scores of people and driven over 12,000 from their homes, HRW said.

The fatalities include 47 civilians murdered by jihadists in two attacks in the capital Ouagadougou in 2016 and 2017.

"The growing insecurity in Burkina Faso has led to terrible crimes by both armed Islamists and state security forces,” said Corinne Dufka, HRW's Sahel director.&nbsp

"The government should follow through on its important commitment to investigate alleged abuses by state forces, and the armed Islamists should stop attacking and threatening civilians."

Responding to the accusations, Defence Minister Jean-Claude Bouda said that he was already "aware of certain allegations of abuses" against civilians in counter-terrorism operations.

"The government undertakes to carry out inquiries into all the cases of abuse referred to (in the report) which had not already been brought to its attention," Bouda said.

Northern Burkina Faso has been in the grip of a jihadist insurgency since 2016

Security forces in Burkina Faso have carried out extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests and other abuses in their campaign against terrorism, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday. A 60-page report by the US-based watchdog said Sahel villagers found themselves caught between jihadists, who threatened to kill those who collaborated with the government, and the security forces, who expected local people to give them information about the insurgents. HRW said it had documented the execution-style killing by Islamists of 19 men from 12 villages who had been accused of providing tips to the security forces. On the government's side, witnesses implicated the security forces in "at least" 14 alleged summary executions and said four other men died in custody from mistreatment. "Many witnesses described seeing bodies -– often blindfolded and with their hands bound -– along local roads and footpaths in northern Burkina Faso," the report said. "The majority of victims were last seen in the custody of government security forces." Northern Burkina Faso has been in the grip of a jihadist insurgency since 2016. Armed groups including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) have attacked army bases, police and gendarme posts and carried out a campaign of intimidation against officials and teachers. The violence has killed scores of people and driven over 12,000 from their homes, HRW said. The fatalities include 47 civilians murdered by jihadists in two attacks in the capital Ouagadougou in 2016 and 2017. "The growing insecurity in Burkina Faso has led to terrible crimes by both armed Islamists and state security forces,” said Corinne Dufka, HRW's Sahel director. "The government should follow through on its important commitment to investigate alleged abuses by state forces, and the armed Islamists should stop attacking and threatening civilians." Responding to the accusations, Defence Minister Jean-Claude Bouda said that he was already "aware of certain allegations of abuses" against civilians in counter-terrorism operations. "The government undertakes to carry out inquiries into all the cases of abuse referred to (in the report) which had not already been brought to its attention," Bouda said.

Rights watchdog lashes Burkina over army 'abuses'

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