Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana launch joint security operation

Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have launched a joint security operation called Koudanlgou II in the southern and western areas of Burkina Faso.

The Burkinabe government announced at the end of a Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, that the joint effort began since November 15.

It said more than 850 security elements from the three countries are involved in the joint multinational operation, which is expected to crackdown transnational crimes including terrorism, smuggling, and drug trafficking.

Operation Koudanlgou II follows the Accra initiative signed in November 2017 by five countries in the sub-region: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.

It comes after Koudanlgou I, which was organized in May 2018 between Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Ghana.