By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Burkinabe Defence Ministry on Thursday announced plans to recruit at least 5000 soldiers in what it called “exceptional recruitment” to serve the army “at least five years” as part of efforts to fight jihadism in the country.
“An exceptional recruitment of 5,000 non-commissioned soldiers for the national armed forces, to serve for at least five years in their military region of recruitment, will take place throughout the national territory,” Defence Minister Colonel Major Kassoum Coulibaly said in a statement.
The recruitment exercise is expected to commence 28 February to 7 March and “concerns in priority young boys Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (civilian auxiliaries of the army) meeting the conditions”, he added.
Only young persons born between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 2003 will be eligible for recruitment, the minister said.
The Boucle du Mouhoun region in the west which has been a prime target in jihadist attacks will have the largest share of the quota (1,000), followed by Sahel in the north (900) and the eastern region (750). The country has 13 regions.
This is the third time in less than a year that the Burkinabe army has organised such recruitment in the fight against jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
In April 2022, 3,000 soldiers, aged up to 26, had already been recruited. The same procedure was also launched last October.
Burkina Faso, the scene of two military coups in 2022, has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of jihadist violence that began in Mali and Niger a few years earlier and has spread beyond these borders.
In seven years, the violence has left more than 10,000 civilians and soldiers dead, according to NGOs, and some two million people internally displaced.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the transitional president who took power in a coup on 30 September 2022, set himself the goal of “reconquering” the 40% of Burkina Faso’s territory controlled by the jihadist groups.
Shortly after taking power, he launched a campaign to recruit volunteers for the defence of the country, who are paying a heavy price in the anti-jihadist struggle.
Of the estimated 50,000 needed, 90,000 have signed up.
