Burkina Faso, ravaged by Islamic jihad attacks, has extended state of emergency in eight of the country’s 13 regions by six months.
The bill, adopted unanimously by the interim parliament on Friday, May 12 will be in effect from March to October 29.
It “aims to strengthen and consolidate the fight against the insecurity and to give more opportunities and resources” to security forces, Justice Minister Bibata Nebie Ouedraogo said.
The state of emergency gives security forces power to conduct searches of homes, day or night and restricts freedom of movement and assembly.
In mid-April, Burkina Faso’s military junta also declared a “general mobilisation” to combat a string of bloody attacks blamed on jihadists.
Burkina Faso, faced two military coups in 2022, but has bern battling a jihadist insurgency since 2015.
The violence has seen more than 10,000 killed both civilians and military — according to the UN, and displaced some two million people.
Captain Ibrahim Traore, Burkina’s transitional president who staged the most recent coup on September 30, has set a goal of recapturing 40 percent of the country’s territory, currently controlled by jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS.