Country Reports on Terrorism 2008 - Burkina Faso
- Author: Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
- Document source:
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Date:
30 April 2009
Burkina Faso continued to lack the resources necessary to protect its borders adequately and to monitor the movement of potential terrorists. There was no formal method for tracking the movement into and out of the country at border checkpoints, or at either of the country's two commercial airports. Burkina Faso has the potential of becoming a terrorist safe haven because of its close proximity to several countries in which terrorist groups currently operate and because its borders are porous, especially in the sparsely populated north.
Despite its lack of resources, Burkina Faso cooperated with the United States in its efforts to combat terrorism, where possible, and participated in training, seminars, and exercises, such as the regional Flintlock exercise held in Spain and Mali, and familiarization events offered by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). In September, SOCEUR initiated three projects in Burkina Faso to increase mutual understanding, improve tolerance, and combat extremist ideology by supporting non-violent conflict resolution and shared values.
The Government of Burkina Faso participated in regional efforts at combating terrorism with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, and other international organizations.
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