How west Africa’s gold rush is funding jihadists
Nov 14th 2019DAKARFOREIGN STAFF working in Burkina Faso for a Canadian gold-mining company, Semafo, have the option of flying in helicopters over roads infested with bandits and jihadist. Local employees at its Boungou mine are less fortunate. On November 6th five buses carrying 241 workers drove straight into a massacre. A survivor told news agencies that men shouting “Allahu akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”) overwhelmed their small security escort. The gunmen sprayed the vehicles with bullets before boarding and murdering those on them. At least 39 people were killed and another 60 were wounded.The attack was but the latest outrage in Burkina Faso, which is struggling to contain a fast-growing jihadist insurgency. Along with Mali and Niger, it has become the main front line against terrorists in the Sahel, a dry strip of land that runs along the edge of the Sahara. This year alone the conflict has killed more than 1,600 people and forced half a million from their homes in Burkina Faso. But the latest incident hints at a worrying new trend: a battle by jihadists and other armed groups to take control of the region’s gold rush.Choose us for news analysis that respects your time and intelligenceSubscribe to The EconomistWe filter out the noise of the daily news cycle and analyse the trends that matterWe give you rigorous, deeply researched and fact-checked journalism. That’s why Americans named us their most trusted news source in 2017Available wherever you are—in print, digital and, uniquely, in audio, fully narrated by professional broadcastersThis website adheres to all nine of NewsGuard‘s standards of credibility and transparency.ORContinue reading this articleRegister with an email address