How One of the Most Stable Nations in West Africa Descended Into Mayhem
Burkina Faso once looked like a success story for U.S. military aid. But now it’s contending with a growing insurgency, an unfolding humanitarian crisis — and a security force targeting civilians.
October 15, 2020
by Nick Turse "The fact that Burkina Faso’s military has failed to protect its people while simultaneously committing atrocities against them is not America’s failure alone. Other international supporters, like France and the European Union, bear a responsibility — not to mention the Burkinabe government itself. But a history of spectacular collapses by U.S.-trained militaries, from South Vietnam in 1975 to Iraq in 2014, and rampant atrocities by allies, such as torture, rape and murder committed by Afghan forces and the yearslong killing of Yemeni civilians, with U.S. weaponry, by Saudi Arabia, demands a frank reappraisal of U.S. military assistance abroad. Ordinary people in Burkina Faso are paying a grave price for failed foreign-policy decisions and autopilot assistance that favors throwing military aid at complex social problems."
"satire" October 2014
"Boko Haram have thanked Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai for her role in helping mediate a landmark ceasefire deal between the group and the Nigerian army.
Nigerian media announced on Friday that the militant group, which has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people since 2009, had reached an agreement with the Nigerian army, which would include the release of the estimated 200 schoolgirls abducted earlier this year.
“Malala appeared to our leader [Abubakar Shekau] in a dream and said that kidnapping girls was not the answer,” an unnamed spokesperson said on a video released by the group.
“We will go back to focusing on restricting boys education, because there is less stress in that industry,” he said."
The protest in Nairobi on 15 January by a handful of Muslim youth, in which four people were killed, revealed a profound radicalisation and inter-faith resentment among Nairobi’s Muslims. Analysis by John Onyando, 20 January 2010