A "new breath in the fight against terrorism" : New Burkinabe Army Chief

The new chief of staff of the Burkinabe army, Colonel Major David Kabre, has promised to make the fight against terrorism in West Africa a top priority.

Colonel Major David who was appointed last week said "I would like to appeal to all the components of our national armed forces, ... to make a new commitment with me, to give a new breath to the fight against terrorism in our country," during a sober ceremony of taking command. 

He acknowledged the fact that his "assumption of command comes in a security context marked by the resurgence of terrorist attacks in several parts of our territory," he stressed, saying he had "no other option than success" in "restoring the integrity of our territory, the top priority of the Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces. 

The 54-year-old, former Sports minister (2014-2016) was appointed on 4 February to replace General Gilbert Ouedraogo, whose departure had been demanded by soldiers during the mutiny of 23 January which led to a coup d'état the next day.

"I will develop, with the command of operations in the national theatre, precise mechanisms for planning, conducting and coordinating operations by reorienting our actions towards the offensive," the senior officer promised. 

Several recent particularly deadly attacks have amplified the exasperation of the population against the regime of former President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, accused of being ineffective in its fight against jihadism.

He was forced to vacate his seat on 24 January after being arrested by the coup plotters and has since been placed under house arrest in a villa in Ouagadougou.

for close to seven years, Burkina Faso has been in a series of violence attributed to jihadist movements affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced at least 1.5 million. 

The head of the junta that seized power, Lt Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, ordered the creation of a National Theatre Operations Command centre on Friday, the first of its kind in the country.