Explained | The rise of Islamist militancy in Burkina Faso

In June last year, mass graves of 160 people were found in the northern Burkina Faso village of Solhan after militants had raided it, in the worst attack so far

The story so far: At least 34 people were killed in two attacks launched by suspected Islamist militants in the west African country of Burkina Faso, reports showed on July 4. In the northwest of the country, 22 people, including children, were reportedly killed earlier in the Kossi province while 12 people died in northern Burkina Faso’s Yatena province on Saturday. This came after a deadly attack in mid-June when gunmen killed more than 79 people in the northern Burkina Faso town of Seytenga, though multiple estimates pegged the death toll at over 100.

Burkina Faso remained largely free of terrorist attacks despite the rise of extremist militancy in the neighbouring countries till recently. But since 2015, the country has seen a spate of attacks carried out by armed groups associated with the al-Qaeda and Islamic State on civilians and security forces, replacing Mali as the epicentre of terrorist violence in the Sahel in recent years. According to a United Nations report from June this year, violent clashes have internally displaced 1.9 million people in Burkina Faso.

With a population of around 20 million, Burkina Faso is bordered by Mali to the North and West, and Niger to the Northeast. Burkina Faso had been relatively peaceful and stable before 2016, with relative ethnic and religious harmony.

In 2014, popular protests forced Blaise Campaore, the country’s President of 27 years, to step down after he attempted to tweak the laws to extend his term. Mr. Campaore, a former soldier, had assumed office in a military coup in 1987. In 2015, Burkinabes elected Roch Marc Christian Kabore as their second-ever civilian President and the first to have come to power through elections since the country got independence from French rule in 1960.

However, in January this year, Mr. Kabore was ousted in a military coup, citing his failure to quell Islamist militant attacks that have afflicted the northern and eastern parts of the country for more than six years. Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who led the coup, became the President of the country, vowing to make the country’s security his priority.

The first terrorist attack took place in the capital city of Ouagadougou in January 2016, where militants killed 30 people, including foreigners, in an attack on the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino Cafe. The attack was claimed by the outfit al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the north African branch of the al-Qaeda.

2016 also saw the formation of Burkina Faso’s first native extremist group, the Ansar ul Islam (also spelt Ansarul Islam or Ansaroul Islam), meaning defenders of Islam, founded by Malam Ibrahim Dicko, a preacher from the northern province of Soum. Mr. Dicko attempted to win the support of the disadvantaged sections of Burkinabe society, promoting equality between classes and challengingsocial stratification among Burkinabe ethnic groups. Mr. Dicko was reported to also have worked with Islamist militants in neighbouring Mali who captured certain northern towns in 2012.