There were renewed protests on the streets Saturday in Burkina Faso’s capital after government forces failed to halt a wave of violence against three groups opposing President Roch Kabore. The violent demonstrations of hardline fighters had police firing tear gas to disperse some 100 protesters who had gathered in response to the state’s failure to stop rise in Islamist violence.
Demonstrators erected barricades and burned tires that they had spread around the streets of Ouagadougou as angry citizens joined the riot headed by a group called the 27 November Coalition. The alliance of protesters is the result of the growing anger against the government for the relentless attacks linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) militia who regularly target Burkinabe forces and civilians.
Local media said a young child was injured during the protests, while two journalists were also among those who were hurt from the tear gas. “We refuse to lose Burkina Faso. We will put in someone who is competent to assure the security of the nation," one protester told the Associated Press.
In an interview with protesters, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque said their fury stemmed from the government’s failure to make them feel secure in their own country. “One and a half million people have been displaced because of the violence in Burkina Faso and about 60 percent of them are children,” he added.
“Two-thirds of the country is not in government control, or at least there is fighting going on between the government and armed groups over control of the areas,” Haque said.
Responding to ongoing violent protests, authorities had cut all mobile internet access last week as the continuing political instability simultaneously undermined the fight against al-Qaeda and ISIL militia, which seem to have gained even more ground across West Africa’s Sahel region.
The Islamist groups have since overrun the landlocked Sahel which has forced more than 1 million people from their homes and killed about 2,000. The deadliest of attacks in Burkina Faso took place during an assault two weeks ago in the northern town of Inata at a gendamarie post were Burkinabe security forces suffered 53 fatalities.
