Burkina Faso has announced its move to enlist 5,000 new troops to serve in the country’s army for a minimum of five years in order to aid in the country’s war against jihadists.
The nation, which is among the poorest in the world, has been waging a bloody insurgency since 2015.
According to the statement from the defense minister, Colonel Major Kassoum Coulibaly,”an exceptional recruitment of 5,000 non-commissioned soldiers for the national armed forces, to serve for at least five years, in their military region of recruitment, will take place throughout the national territory.”
The minister stated that the recruitment of young male troops will take place from February 28 to March 7, and that enlistees must have been born between January 1, 1988, and December 31, 2003.
The western Boucle du Mouhoun region and the Sahel in the north are two of the 13 regions of Burkina Faso that will have greater recruiting quotas since they are known as hotspots for conflict.
The Burkinabe army has organized such a drive three times in less than a year. Three thousand soldiers were enlisted in April 2022, and the recruitment effort was restarted in October.
Since the beginning of the year, Burkina Faso has had two coups, with each new government blaming the one before them for failing to stop the bloodshed.
