Some ganks join the fight against the army

Three Ganas said the BBC in the fight between Islamist rebels and the army in the neighboring Burkina Faso, describing the scenes of sometimes unnecessary violence and bloody battles.

“We are always with the dead. In some battles, they saw 40, 50 or 100 dead people,” one of the men told the BBC.

Three, all in the late thirties or early forties, said they fought in Burkina Faso several times since 2018. They crossed the porous border 550 km (340 miles) between the two countries without being discovered by security forces.

They denied that they were primarily motivated by religion or to train by jihadists, saying that they were fighting for the defense of civil communities with which they had strong family and ethnic relationships.

“My older brother, his wife and children killed everything [Burkinabe] army. It hurts a lot. The army came to their community in the woods. They were killed by all, the whole household, including 29 people, “said one of the men.

But others of men articulated religious zeal, saying, “If you die while fighting jihadists, then you drive to Jannah (Islamic word for paradise), on the path of the righteous.”

They challenged if they participated in civilian attacks, the men were divided.

One denied it, but the other admitted that he did.

“Some local people support the army to attack us, so we have to kill them too,” he said.

“You know … I’m not glad to fight like this. The number of people we kill, the people we are killing, very bad. But this fight has entered our blood,” he added.

All three speak on the condition of anonymity.

The BBC could not confirm their claims, but they showed us the pictures of weapons, described the place of recent conflicts and appointed commanders of jihadists in Burkina Faso.

The BBC has contacted men through contacts in cattle markets in the north of Ghana, where the allegedly jihadist groups are recruited by fighters.

In 2022, a non -governmental organization based in France, a proposition, said his research showed that jihadists were recruited between 200 and 300 young people.

And the Dutch Institute for International Relations Think-TankIn a report published last JulyThey said that jihadists had a “minimal success” recruitment in Gani.

However, men offered a different perspective, speaking to the BBC, in claims that could not be checked, that people from “all parts of Ghana” and from “many” ethnic groups joined the Burkina Faso rebellion.

“Some fight for jihad. Some do it for a job,” one of them said.

The financial incentive comes in the form of a copious livestock that jihadists steal from communities ejected from their villages.

“When we attack the community, we take their animals: sometimes 50, sometimes 100,” BBC said one of the men.

Livestock is reportedly brought to the northern gan and is sold in markets.

Trading across the border BBC was confirmed by cattle traders.

It is considered to have become the main flow of revenue for groups such as Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-muslicimin (jim), an al-Qaeda branch, which is the most active jihadist group in Burkina Faso. It also works in Niger and Mali.

The West African region described the UN last year as the epicenter of global jihadist violence.

Assistance agencies say that During the last decade, the rebellion displaced two million people in Burkina Faso and tens of thousands killed.

Ninpoa strands one of the thousands who have escaped to Ghana to avoid violence.

She told the BBC, and her husband was killed in front of her in 2024 during the attack on their village in the eastern Burkina Faso by a fighter from JNA.

“They grabbed men and beat them up to death. My husband was a farmer. He had nothing to do with the Government’s militia or conflict,” she told the BBC.

Other refugees were described by similar violence by the Burkinaba Army.

“Some of the people they killed were 80 years old, at the age of 90. These people can’t hold a gun, they can’t fight anyone. They were killed for no reason,” said Saafiya Karim.

So far, Ghana has remained largely untouched by the rebellion, although some attacks have taken place in the neighboring coast of that and ivory.

In a recent statement by Ganski journalist Mohammed Elias Tankou, a man called a representative of JNA, said the group has no interest in launching an attack in Gani.

“They (jim fighters) are not allowed to take any action against Ghana. This is a clear and certain statement. It does not seek war against Ghana,” said the man, known as Ansari, in a statement, which BBC saw.

However, the increase in communal violence in one part of the northern Gana has caused concern that jihadists are trying to use the conflict to their advantage.

The city of Bawk has been involved in decades of a long struggle between different ethnic groups for control of local chief. More than 100 people are thought to have been killed in conflicts since struggling in October.

“The evening in Bawku is always [one of] Shots and fierce exchange. People use AK47S, M16S, all kinds of automatic rifles, “said the BBC resident.

Jim smugglers are charged with the sale of weapons of both sides.

“We understand that they supply the weapons they took from the army in Burkina Faso. They do it by relying on trucks traveling to Niger and back carrying onions. They hide their weapons within those trucks,” Tanko told the BBC.

“One intelligence clerk confirmed to me that this is a new way to bring fire weapons. And Ganska’s safety is poorly equipped to find out those vehicles that go through, putting a move in a very critical situation,” he added.

Ganski Defense Minister Edward Omane Boamah did not respond to the BBC a comment request.

President John Maham, who assumed his post in January after winning the December presidential election, visited Bawk last month in an effort to promote peace between rival groups. However, the shooting is still reported.

Gani Gani Gyamfi spokesman told the BBC that the end of the Bawku Vlad’s “Priority One” is the end of Bawku.

“Violence is already expanding and if care is not attended, it is likely that rebels from the wider region can use this conflict,” he said.

The three men whom the BBC spoke with said they did not rule out the possibility of spreading the rebellion.

“This thing can go to any place or to any country. There is no Toga, but now events happen there. If I can go to Togo, I can come to Gan. This thing is strong, powerful,” one of them said.

But the other of men took a cynical perspective, saying that the rebels in Burkina Faso no longer lead the “Islamic struggle”.

“They just kill people and steal their cattle. What is happening is not jihad and I don’t like it,” he said.

You can listen to the ED Butler report on the BBC World Service task program.