The military junta in Burkina Faso has launched an investigation into an attack that saw at least 28 people killed over the weekend. Attacks targeting the security forces and civilians have increased in recent months, especially in northern and eastern regions bordering Mali and Niger, countries also battling a jihadist insurgency.
In a statement released by the authorities late Monday, "The [Burkinabé] government was informed of an incident at Nouna... during the night of December 30th to 31st."
Preliminary reports "indicate 28 people killed," it said, adding that an investigation had been opened and urging calm.
The government in Ouagadougou says it remains "fundamentally opposed to any form of abuse or human rights violations on any grounds".
A statement from the prosecutor at the Nouna high court, Armel Sama, said that "most of the victims – all male – were shot dead".
#Burkina 🇧🇫 Au moins 21 personnes ont été tuées y compris des enfants dans une attaque qui a visée des quartiers peul de #Nouna. Le Collectif Contre la Stigmatisation des Communautés (#CISC) impute la responsabilité à des ''dozos VDP'' qui auraient réagi en représailles...1/2 pic.twitter.com/nTSXAL2S7q
— Danouma Ismael TRAORE (@Danoumis_Traore) January 2, 2023
VDP auxiliary force in the spotlight
Meanwhile, the civil society Collective of Communities against Impunity and Stigmatisation (CISC) has denounced the violence as "reprisals targeting civilians" by armed civilians claiming to be members of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland – or VDP auxiliary force – who "freely engage in organised looting and targeted abuses of civilian population."
It added that on Saturday, "following a terrorist attack on the VDP headquarters in Nouna (...) armed dozos (traditional hunters) – identified by the victims as VDP – carried out murderous acts in retaliation".
One of the world's poorest countries, Burkina Faso has already seen two coups by disgruntled army officers last year that have put the military in power.
Since 2015 the country has been grappling with an insurgency led by jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group which has killed tens of thousands and displaced around two million people.
Outrage at tax to fund anti-jihadist operations
In related news, there has been an outcry over the junta's announcement on 9 December that it will deduct one percent of the salary of each Burkinabé worker to finance the fight against terrorism.
The main objective of the levy is to raise about 100 billion CFA francs (approximately €154 million) to pay the salaries and equip the VDP.
Last Thursday, the National Coordination of Education Trade Unions issued a communiqué to express its opposition to this measure.
The amount has reportedly not been included in Burkina Faso's draft 2023 budget, which already has a deficit of 600 billion CFA francs (€924 million).
President Ibrahim Traoré is counting on the Burkinabé people to make a solidarity effort.
Traoré had presented numerous possibilities for a voluntary contribution by citizens – like a one percent levy on the net salary of public and private workers – but also taxes on certain consumer products such as alcohol, tobacco, internet, cosmetics or perfume.
Prélèvement de 1% sur les salaires des travailleurs : la CNSE dit “non”https://t.co/HEMy4LQkfg via @ActualiteBf #lwili #Burkina #BurkinaFaso pic.twitter.com/4F4dEgSKSw
— Actualite.bf (@ActualiteBf) December 28, 2022
According to the coordinator of the National Coordination of Education Unions (CNSE), Souleymane Badiel, education personnel – like all workers – cannot afford such a contribution.
Speaking to RFI, Badiel underlined, "education staff have contributed financially through fundraising operations in support of the defence and security forces for at least three years now.
"The second [issue] is the high cost of living, which has become much worse and which has considerably eroded the purchasing power of workers in general.
"A third argument is that we see great mismanagement of public resources, in the press ... an audit of the army is the demand of our people," he explained.
