New army chief in Burkina Faso promises new strategy against terrorism

The new army chief in Burkina Faso promised a new strategy in the fight against terrorism.

Gilbert Ouédraogo, took office on Tuesday as the new Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces promising a new approach to deal with extremist violence in the country.

"Terrorism in its entirety has plunged our country into a so-called asymmetric war since 2015. It is an irregular war, an unconventional war for which the national armed forces were not sufficiently prepared", said Gilbert Ouédraogo, the new Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Gilbert Ouédraogo was appointed on the 6th of October replacing general Miningou who spent less than three months as head of the army.

The minister of defense reaffirmed his support for the new approach.

"We expect the new Chief of General Staff to re-mobilize the troops, to reorganize all the forces in order to launch them in a much more efficient way in the fight against this threat which is evolving and for which we have to adapt constantly", announced Aime Barthelemy Simpore , Minister Delegate for National Defense to the President of Burkina Faso.

Since 2015 that extremist attacks have become more frequent in Burkina Faso. 

The attacks are attributed to terrorist groups affiliated to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.