Burkina Faso this week launched a campaign to recruit 50,000 volunteer civilian fighters to assist the army fight jihadists, officials said.
“A recruitment is launched of 35,000 communal VDP, that is to say, 100 VDP per commune,” said a statement by the commander of the Brigade of Vigilance and Patriotic Defense (BVDP), Colonel Boukaré Zoungrana, Minister of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security on Tuesday.
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“The mission of these communal VDPs is to protect, alongside the defense and security forces, the people and property of their communes of origin”, in the face of jihadist attacks, he said.
This local recruitment was announced on Monday when the BVDP announced its intention to build a force of 15,000 VDP “to be deployed throughout the country’s territory.
Established by law in the 1980s, the VDP is a “deputy of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) who voluntarily serves the security interests of the village or where they live.
VDPs undergo 14 days of civil and military training before being armed and equipped with communications equipment.
They are paying a heavy price for the jihadist attacks that regularly hit Burkina Faso, especially in the north and east.
The original goal was for him to employ 13,000 people, but there is no data on the exact number at this time.
This massive recruitment is on top of a one-off recruitment effort of 3,000 soldiers to bolster military ranks in the fight against jihadists.
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These campaigns took place after a coup of 30 September led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, whose aim was stated to be to intensify the fight against jihad.
At least 10 of his soldiers were killed and around 50 wounded in Monday’s “terrorist attack” in the city of Zibo, which has been under jihadist blockade for three months in northern Burkina.