Burkina Faso Militant Attacks Grow Fiercer Despite Junta Pledge

Violence in Burkina Faso has increased over the past five months, draining public confidence in the junta, threatening coastal West African states, and worsening a humanitarian crisis that has now displaced almost two million people - around one in ten Burkinabé.

Led by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the junta had plenty of wellwishers when it seized power. The takeover followed on the heels of a coup in neighbouring Mali, where extremist attacks since 2012 have also turned people against their elected officials.

Militant attacks - which began in Burkina Faso in 2015 - have pushed hunger levels to a six-year high. It has also depopulated large parts of the countryside, forcing rural residents into urban centres, where resources are increasingly stretched.

With little humanitarian assistance and no end in sight to the violence, many local residents told The New Humanitarian that they are questioning whether Damiba's junta will really live up to its promises.