The border between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso was the scene of a new incident, with still unclear contours, between soldiers from the two countries. According to several Ivorian security sources, two Burkinabé soldiers crossed the border on Wednesday March 27 early in the afternoon and entered, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, the Dantou market, in the Téhini department. (north-east), 3 km from Burkina Faso. The affair is worrying as tensions between the two countries have continued to grow since Ibrahim Traoré came to power in Ouagadougou in September 2022. The putschist in power in Burkina Faso has decided, like his counterparts in Mali and Niger, to break with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional organization, of which Côte d’Ivoire is a heavyweight.
Quickly arrested by the Ivorian army, the first class soldier and an auxiliary volunteer for the defense of the homeland (VDP) who “nothing indicated that they are military”, according to an officer in the area, were transported towards the nearest base, in Togolokaye, before being taken to the Bouna gendarmerie, where they are still located.
Alerted by the arrest of their colleagues, a group of Burkinabé soldiers then made an incursion into Ivorian territory. To repel him, the Ivorian security forces based in Togolokaye reportedly requested air support from an MI-24 helicopter. Exchanges of fire reportedly took place in Dantou around 3 p.m. The helicopter came under fire, according to an Ivorian military source, and returned fire before retreating. Several other sources within the army deny any clash. No casualties have been reported, and the situation has returned to calm.
“We tried to contact the officers across the border to resolve this matter, but everyone we knew was relieved. Now, the matter is at the level of the chiefs of staff of the two countries,” explains the previously cited officer, who minimizes the incident, considering that the two Burkinabés “did not know that they were in Ivorian territory. They were surely victims of the lack of demarcation of our borders.”
“Annoyance.”
This type of incident is recurrent in these areas where the separation between the two countries is poorly demarcated. On September 19, 2023, two gendarmes from Bouna were arrested in Burkina Faso territory, near the clandestine gold mining site in the village of Kwamé Yar. They have been detained for six months in Ouagadougou, the capital. Also on February 23, two journalists from Burkina Faso public television were briefly arrested in Ivory Coast, while they were filming without authorization in the border area.
On Thursday, an Ivorian military note reported that “the frightened population of Dantou is now 25% in Parabou and at the so-called Vieux Karim [sic] camp, located 5 km from Dantou. It should also be noted that the population of Dantou is made up of 80% Burkinabés and 20% Lorons, an Ivorian ethnic group originating from the sub-prefecture of Téhini.
These incidents “illustrate the tensions between the two countries”, believes Arthur Banga, political scientist specializing in security issues. The researcher evokes “annoyance and a desire to show its presence” on the Ivorian side, while Burkina Faso for its part maintains “a logic of distrust towards Côte d’Ivoire”.
Since Captain Ibrahim Traoré came to power in Ouagadougou, the bond has continued to fray between the two neighbors. If Abidjan had delivered weapons to the army of the young putschist at the beginning of 2023 to support it in the anti-jihadist fight, relations are today frosty and several sources explain that cooperation in military and intelligence matters is at stake. stop. Ivory Coast is worried about an influx of refugees following the warlike policy of the Burkinabé military regime, when the latter suspects its southern neighbor of working to destabilize its power.
