11/13/2019 Burkina Faso (International Christian Concern) – Oumaru Dicko, a member of parliament and deputy mayor of Djibo, a town in Burkina Faso’s Sahel province, was assassinated on the road between Djibo and the capital, Ouagadougou on Sunday, November 3, 2019. This has increase the tension and fear in Northern Burkina Faso, which has been suffering increased extremist activity and attacks over the past few years. For a high ranking member of the political sphere to be killed shows the country that these groups have the power and capability to attack anyone.
It also shows that the government does not have the ability to protect its own workers, and thus is not likely to be able to beat these terror groups alone, currently.
Local sources told reporters that the vehicle in which Mr. Dicko was travelling also had three other people in it. The vehicle reportedly hit an improvised explosive device (IED) and instantly killed two of the passengers. Others travelling along the rode by bus tried to rescue Mr. Dicko and the other passenger, but were stopped when unidentified gunmen stormed the scene and abducted the two men. The witnesses say they then heard gunshot in the distance, and believe it was the execution of the two men.
This is the first high ranking political member that has been assassinated during the growing conflict in Burkina Faso. So far, none of the armed groups operating in Burkina Faso have claimed responsibility for the attack, but this is not unusual for many attacks. Most cases are attributed to armed groups including Ansar ul Islam, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), which operate in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel region of Africa, even if they go unclaimed.
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