With the support of the Burkinabè army, the French Barkhane force eliminated around sixty jihadists

A few hours before the coup that deposed President Marc Roch Kaboré in favor of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the French force Barkhane intervened in Burkina Faso against armed terrorist groups [GAT], as part of the “Laabingol” operation.

Indeed, indicated the General Staff [EMA] a week after the end of the latter, units of Barkhane supported the armed forces of Burkina Faso [FABF] in an area known to serve as a refuge for jihadists. , near the border with Mali. Thus, between January 16 and 23, four GATs were “located, identified and neutralized” by the Burkinabè and French soldiers.

On the first day of Operation Laabingol, a patrol of Tiger attack helicopters “neutralized” a GAT in the Gorom-Gorom region. Then, the following two days, airstrikes carried out by Barkhane, with the assistance of advanced tactical air guides [GATA] wiped out a jihadist column near the Malian border. Finally, on January 23, Mirage 2000s associated with MQ-9 Reaper drones attacked jihadists east of Djibo... which resulted in the destruction of a dozen motorcycles, the preferred mode of transport by the GAT.

“In total, nearly sixty terrorists were put out of action. Twenty motorcycles and several armed pick-ups were destroyed", summarizes the EMA, for which the "Laabingol" operation reflects the "very good level of cooperation with the armed forces of Burkina Faso, in support of which the Force Barkhane is committed to protecting populations and fighting terrorism. And to add that it "illustrates the commitment and determination of Barkhane and all its partners to continue the fight against armed terrorist groups".

This operation was carried out a few weeks after the complicated crossing of Burkina Faso by a Barkhane convoy from Côte d'Ivoire to reach Gao, Mali. The demonstrators who obstructed his passage, "worked" by a disinformation campaign on social networks, had accused the French soldiers of delivering weapons to the jihadis.

It should also be noted that it took place when four French soldiers were injured by an improvised explosive device [IED] during a reconnaissance mission at Ouahigouya airport, which had just been attacked, a priori by members of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims [GSIM], linked to al-Qaeda.

As for the consequences of the coup, it resulted in Burkina Faso being suspended from the Community of West African States [ECOWAS]. However, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, relativized the scope of the operations to fight against the GAT.

“In Burkina Faso, we have condemned this coup and we want the integrity of President Kaboré to be preserved [there is no question of his restoration to power, nldr]. Nevertheless, Colonel Damiba wants to continue the fight against terrorism within the G5 Sahel and it is important that the new actors in Burkina begin a rapid transition,” said Mr. Le Drian, before emphasizing that, in Mali, "the junta's argument, which is calling for five more years in power to ensure security, does not hold up", given that "there were already elections in Mali in 2013 and 2018 when the security situation was tense".