What has happened since the creation of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland Corps (VDP) early last year after another massacre that shocked the country, it was the VDP camp in Solhan that had to be ‘first targeted by the attackers before attacking the population.
When the law it creates VDPs issued in January 2020, jihadist groups are increasing and the defense and security force cannot be everywhere at the same time.
These army aids are therefore set up to try to tip the balance in the direction of government forces. Their mission: “to serve as intelligence services”, and also to try to “resist in the event of an attack”, while waiting for the army to arrive.
Each volunteer is then trained in handling weapons for two weeks before receiving a Kalashnikov and being released to his village. Too few, say specialists, who worry about the risks of seeing civilians used in such a conflict.
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Today, eighteen months later, Mahamoudou Sawadogo, a Burkina Faso extremist specialist, states that the jihadists “who have mainly attacked the military so far have changed targets: they are now attacking the VDP and the people of the villages.”
Jihadist groups “no longer sort” between civilian populations and armed volunteers, he explains, pointing to “a mix of genres” that pose problems.
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