JIHAD IN AFRICA-A NEW SERIES BY CHARLES JACOBS AND UZAY BULUT
https://www.jns.org/jihadists-massacre-hundreds-in-burkina-faso/
Jihadists massacre hundreds in Burkina Faso
More than 1,000 churches, public Christian properties, houses, shops and businesses were attacked, damaged, bombed, looted, destroyed, burned down, closed or confiscated for faith-related reasons in 2023.
Oct. 7-like attacks happen almost daily across Africa. In at least nine countries, armed jihadists, following what they believe to be the precepts of Islamist theology, storm villages, and torture and murder innocent Africans. Boko Haram in Nigeria, al-Shabaab in Somalia and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan are Hamas by different names.
Like the Israelis, Africans have their homes and schools burned. Churches are a prime target. Women and girls are kidnapped and enslaved as concubines, “wives” of warriors, or merchandise to ransom or sell—all to the screams of “Allahu Akbar!”
Not all the victims are Christians; moderate Muslims and practitioners of tribal faiths are also attacked. This has resulted in the displacement of millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods. Yet this is generally ignored by the Western “human rights” establishment.
To break the silence, we have formed the African-Jewish Alliance: to recruit decent people for the tasks of liberating the slaves and protecting the innocent. The topic will be discussed in a series of pieces.
Jihad continues to ravage Africa.
At least 500 people in the central part of Burkina Faso were killed on Aug. 27 when jihadists opened fire on civilians who were digging defensive trenches. Hundreds of those wounded were transported to healthcare facilities.
A woman who survived the massacre described the horror of searching through bodies to find her brothers. The militants, or bushmen as she described them in an interview with Reuters, arrived at about 10 a.m. They began firing on soldiers and civilians alike. They only stopped when drones arrived overheard later in the day. She said it then took three days for the survivors (who are mostly women and children) to collect the bodies.
Burkina Faso is a landlocked Muslim-majority country in Western Africa. Of its 21 million inhabitants, 5 million are Christians. A former French colony, it gained independence as Upper Volta in 1960. The name Burkina Faso, which means “Land of Incorruptible People,” was adopted in 1984.
In 2015, jihadists began an insurgency against the secular government of Burkina Faso in an attempt to establish an Islamist state. The jihadists have launched violent attacks on Christian communities, eliminating them, destroying their churches and forcing the survivors to flee. These attacks have been numerous.
Within this context, there is a high potential for women and girls to be abducted by militants during raids. In 2022, for instance, an 83-year-old nun was kidnapped by an armed group in the town of Yalgo. Suellen Tennyson, an American nun, was taken from her community during a nighttime raid.
Rape is a common method of attacking Christian communities. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence at the hands of jihadists. They face pervasive threats of death and abuse, with girls often experiencing early and forced marriages.
Jihadists have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million in Burkina Faso, further threatening the stability of the country. The mass displacement in Burkina Faso is the world’s most neglected crisis, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
It is also worth noting that Burkina Faso had two coups in 2022 within a span of just eight months in a bid to combat the jihadist threat. But the massacres by jihadists continue.
In November 2023, for instance, at least 40 civilians were killed by Al-Qaeda-linked rebels who were trying to take control of a besieged town in Burkina Faso’s hard-hit northern region. The attack wounded 42 people and set fire to three camps for internally displaced people.
The Islamic militias have also attacked water sources. They now control approximately 40% of the country’s territory.
Militant Islamic groups operating in the country include Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Islamic State Greater Sahara (ISGS), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Murabitoun, Ansar Dine and Boko Haram.
In Burkina Faso, Muslims are dominant in the northern and eastern parts of the country whereas the Christian communities are concentrated in the central and southern regions. Followers of indigenous traditional African religions, who are neither Christian nor Muslim, are concentrated in the south.
According to the Constitution of 2012, Burkina Faso guarantees the right of individuals to choose, practice and change their religion at will. Yet jihadists have increasingly Islamized the country by imposing Sharia law on the locals. The U.S. State Department reported in 2022:
“Violent extremist organizations enforced their ideology and interpretation of Islamic law in the region with the threat of violence for noncompliance. For example, attackers forced members of communities in the northern part of the country to dress in specific ‘Islamic’ garb, although observers noted this was also occurring across other areas of the country. Terrorists closed and burned schools and killed teachers for using a secular curriculum and for teaching in French rather than Arabic, according to media reports.”
The ongoing nine-year-long insurgency has led to a dire humanitarian situation. Millions of people are facing food insecurity, displacement, and limited access to essential services, reports the organization Open Doors, which monitors Christian persecution on a global scale. “The ongoing conflict and instability have disrupted agriculture, trade, and investment, stifling economic growth and development prospects for the population.”
Jihadists have also forced school closures. As reported by the NRC in 2023:
“Over a million children in Burkina Faso are currently affected by school closures with 6,134 academic institutions shut as of February 2023, an increase of over 40 percent since the end of the last school year. Nearly one out of four schools country-wide are now out of service due to rampant insecurity and violence.”
Dr. John Agbor, Burkina Faso country director for Unicef, the children’s agency run by the United Nations, said that:
“Children out of school are more likely to be forced to work, to be recruited into armed groups, or to be victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, gender-based violence or early marriage.”
In such a climate of hostility, the Christian minority remains the most vulnerable and persecuted group. According to Open Doors, Christians in the country find themselves a primary target for attack:
“The Christian community in Burkina Faso faces a severe crisis due to the jihadist intent on eradicating their presence, leading to widespread monitoring, disruption and destruction of churches, educational institutions and health-care institutions.”
In 2023, for instance, 1,000-plus churches, public Christian properties (schools, hospitals, cemeteries, etc.), houses, shops and businesses were attacked, damaged, bombed, looted, destroyed, burned down, closed or confiscated for faith-related reasons, reported the Open Doors. Some 100 Christians were raped or otherwise sexually harassed and more than 100 were physically or mentally abused for faith-related reasons (including beatings and death threats).
Open Doors explains some of the other forms of persecution faced by Christians:
- Christian men and young boys are physically harmed, recruited or held hostage for ransom. The abduction and killing of Christian men cause fear and trauma in Christian communities, as well as economic fragility as the men are normally the family providers.
- Church leaders, the majority of whom are males, have also been targeted by militant groups. According to reports, an unknown number of pastors and their families have been abducted and remain in captivity. Others have been “executed in front of their families.”
- The enforcement of Sharia law by jihadist groups has made the possession of Christian materials extremely dangerous. This threat has forced many to either hide their faith or seek refuge in Internally Displaced Persons camps, as Christian possessions and institutions increasingly become targets of jihadist attacks.
Open Doors says that these attacks can be seen as violent attempts at “Islamizing” the country:
“Burkina Faso is a country where Islamic radicalization is growing. The peripheries of the country are under the influence of Islamic militants and the mosques and madrassas teach radical versions of Sunni Islam, thus causing even Sufi Muslims to be under threat. In these areas, there is no place for religious minorities. It was even reported that teachers in schools were threatened to hold Quran classes or face repercussions. This is also making life difficult for more moderate Muslims.”
Burkina Faso is not the only African nation plagued by jihad. Similar jihad slaughters occur in other African countries such as Nigeria, Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Libya, Niger, Cameroon, Mozambique and others.
In these African countries, jihadists who aim to establish Sharia regimes massacre or severely violate Christians and moderate Muslims. The jihad against Africa has resulted in the displacement of millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods. Millions of Africans currently suffer at the hands of jihadists.
The most nagging question: Why do the United Nations, the mainstream media and humanitarian activists show no concern?
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