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1 [1] (October 23, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbbmo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SCongressional Research Serce Updated October 23, 2019 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso has become a stark symbol of worsening security trends in West Africa's Sahel region, due to an armed conflict that began in 2016. Islamist insurgents- some of whom have ties to the conflict in neighboring Mali, and to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State-have asserted control over parts of the country and carried out several large attacks in the capital. State security forces and tacitly state-backed militia groups have been accused of severe human rights abuses during counterterrorism operations, including torture and extrajudicial killings. The conflict has caused a burgeoning humanitarian emergency, exacerbating longstanding development challenges. Per U.N. reports, insurgent attacks and ethnic violence had forced nearly 500,000 people to flee their homes as of October 2019 (compared to about 80,000 reported to be displaced at the start of the year) and crippled the health and education sectors in parts of the country. The rising violence-some playing out along ethnic lines- has subsumed the initial optimism of the country's recent democratic transition. The election of President Roch Marc Christian Kabor6 in late 2015 was the culmination of a political transition process that began in 2014, when protesters, backed by several military commanders, ousted President Blaise Compaor6. A towering figure in West African politics, Compaor6 came to power in a 1987 coup; his latest attempt to change the constitution to evade term limits sparked the protests that unseated him. In mid-2015, a counter-coup by elite military forces loyal to Compaor6 nearly derailed the civilian-led transitional government, but civilian protesters and conventional army units ultimately induced the coup leaders to stand down. A former Compaor6 ally turned opposition figure, President Kabor6 has since struggled to respond to demands for rapid job creation, reforms, and accountability for former regime abuses. In January 2019, the entire cabinet resigned amid rising insurgent attacks, including kidnappings of foreigners. Elections are due in 2020, but whether conflict- affected areas will be able to participate is uncertain. Terrorism and Insurgency Ouagadougou experienced its first large terrorist attack in January 2016, when gunmen opened fire at a hotel and coffee shop popular with foreigners, killing 30 people- including an American. The assault was jointly claimed by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM, an Algerian-led regional network) and an offshoot known as Al Murabitoun. Around the same time, an Islamist insurgency known as Ansarul Islam emerged in the north, where it has targeted schools, state officials, and individuals accused of collaborating with the security forces. Attacks escalated in 2017 after the merger of several Islamist armed groups active in Mali-AQIM's Sahel branch, along with Al Murabitoun and two Malian-led groups-under the banner of the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (JNIM after its transliterated Arabic name). Figure I. Burkina Faso at a Glance Source: CIA and IMF public databases; 2018 estimates unless noted. While remaining active primarily in Mali, JNIM has claimed several attacks in Burkina Faso, including deadly simultaneous assaults on the national military headquarters and the French embassy in Ouagadougou in March 2018. According to U.N. terrorism sanctions monitors, JNIM and Ansarul Islam cooperate but remain distinct. Militants have conducted several attacks on churches, though they appear to tolerate Christians in some areas they control. Mosques have also been attacked. Unlike in Mali, Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso do not publicly claim responsibility for most attacks, for reasons that are unclear. The conflict has particularly affected the north and east, with signs of spillover into the countries of coastal West Africa to the south. In the north, Ansarul Islam and JNIM appear to have leveraged inter-ethnic frictions, grievances stemming from corruption, patronage politics, social stratification, land disputes, and state neglect. The east has emerged as a stronghold for a different AQIM splinter faction that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and is known as the Islamic State-Greater Sahara. The group notably claimed the October 2017 deadly ambush of U.S. troops in Niger. Militants in the east appear to have sought ties with cross-border criminal networks and exploited grievances over restrictions on poaching and logging. Conflict Drivers The reasons and timing behind Burkina Faso's vulnerability to civil war are a matter of debate. Sectarian tensions have reportedly risen in recent years despite a history of peaceful coexistence, in part stemming from continued minority Christian dominance of the civil service and political class. Mali-based Islamist insurgents have long threatened to attack countries, such as Burkina Faso, that contribute troops to the U.N. peacekeeping mission there. Under Compaor6, security officials apparently maintained communications with Mali-based militant factions and https:/icrsrepots congr ess

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