Jihadists target Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU: Jihadist strikes on Burkina Faso have shed light on West Africa’s Achilles’ heel, experts say.

They point to a country whose security apparatus has been battered by the ouster of a dictator with military roots, and where poverty and unemployment provide Jihadists with fertile ground for recruitment. Audacious twin attacks on Friday in the capital Ouagadougou targeting the military headquarters and the embassy of former colonial ruler France, sent shockwaves through the region.

The strike on the military HQ appears to have been aimed at a scheduled meeting of the so-called G5 Sahel -- a French-backed group of five countries fighting Jihadism in the volatile Saharan region.

Burkina Faso is the "soft underbelly" of the region, Paul Koalaga, a professor of geopolitics and security expert said. "Burkina Faso has been fighting terrorists since 2015 -- a commitment that has been strengthened by the G5 Sahel -- and a riposte was just waiting to happen," he said.