Some Ghanaians join the fight against the military

Three Gonans reported the BBC about their participation in the battles between Islamist rebels and the military in the neighboring Burkin -Faso, describing the scenes of timely violence and bloody battles.

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

Three, all at the end of thirty and early forty years, said they fought in Burkina several times since 2018. They crossed the porous border of 550 km (340 miles) between the two countries, without showing security.

They denied that, first of all, they were motivated by religion or underwent jihadists training, saying they were fighting for the protection of civil society with which they had strong family and ethnic ties.

“My older brother, his wife and children were killed by the army (Burkinabe). It hurts me a lot. The military came to their community in the woods. They killed them all, the whole household, including 29 people,” – said one of the Men.

But another of the men formulated religious zeal, saying: “If you die, fighting jihadists, then you are going to the Jeng (Islamic Word for Paradise), on the way of the righteous.”

As they did whether they participated in civil attacks, the men were divided.

One denied it and the other confessed what he did.

“Some locals support the military in the attack on us, so we also have to kill them,” he said.

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

All three spoke on anonymity.

The BBC was unable to confirm their claims, but they showed us photos of weapons, described the place of recent conflicts and called the jihadist commanders in Burkin -fos.

The BBC was linked to men through contacts in cattle markets in Northern Ghana, where the jihadist groups are supposed to recruit fighters.

In 2022, the NGO, based in France, said his studies showed that the jihadists scored 200 to 300 young Ghana.

And the Dutch Institute of Analytical Centers of International RelationsIn a report published last JulyHe said that the jihadists had “minimal success” in Ghana.

However, the men offered a different perspective, telling the BBC, in statements that could not be verified that people from “all parts of Ghana” and from “many” ethnic groups joined the rebels in Burkin -fas.

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

The financial incentive comes in the form of a rich pet that jihaders steal in communities that expelled from their villages.

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

Allegedly, cattle are brought to the Northern Ghana and sold in the markets.

The trade trade trade was confirmed by BBC cattle dealers.

It is believed to have become the main revenue flow for groups such as Jama’at Nusrat Ul-ISLAM WA-MUSLIMIN (JNIM), the al-Qaeda branch, which is the most active group of jihadists in Burkina Faso. It also works in Niger and Mali.

The West African region was described by the UN last year as an epicenter of Global Jihadists’ global violence.

Agency Aids say this Over the last decade, several two million people have been moved by rebels Burkin -fos and tens of thousands killed.

Ninpoa Nasuri is one of the thousands that escaped to Ghana to avoid violence.

She said the BBC, her husband was killed in front of her in 2024 during a raid in her village on East Burkin -fos with JNIM.

“They grabbed people and they beat them to death. My husband was a farmer. He had nothing to do with a government militia or a conflict,” she said the BBC.

Other refugees described similar violence by Burkinab military.

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

Until now, Gana has remained largely pristine with the rebels, although some attacks have taken place on the nearby coast of Toga and ivory.

In a recent statement by Mohammed Elias Tank, a man who calls himself a JNIM representative, said the group was not interested in launching attacks in Ghana.

“They are not allowing any action against Ghana. This is a clear and definite statement. JNIM is not looking for war against Ghana,” said Ansari, known as Ansari, which the BBC saw.

However, increasing communal violence in one part of the Northern Ghana has caused concern that the jihadists are trying to use the conflict in their favor.

The city of Bavka has been involved in decades of struggle between different ethnic groups to control local debt. More than 100 people are believed to be killed in the fight in October last year.

“Evening in the Bavka always (one of) shots and hard exchanges. People use AK47s, M16s, all kinds of automatic rifles,” the BBC resident said.

JNIM smugglers accuse the sale of weapons on both sides.

“We understand that they supply the weapons they took from the military to Burkin -fas. They do it, leaning on the trucks that go to Niger and back, transferring the bow. They hide the weapons in these trucks,” said BBC Tank .

“One intelligence officer confirmed me that it was a new way they bring firearms. And Ghana’s security is poorly equipped to be able to detect these vehicles that pass by putting Ghana in a very critical situation,” he added.

Defense Minister Ghana Edward Oman Baam did not respond to the BBC request.

President John Maham, who took over in January after winning the December presidential election, visited Bauka last month, seeking to promote peace between rival groups. However, the fight against the shootings is reported.

Ghana Jamfa’s party’s press -secretary of the party told the BBC that stopping the violence at Bauk was the “number one” priority.

“Violence is already spreading, and if caution is not taken, it is likely that rebels from a wide region can take advantage of this conflict,” he said.

Three men who were talking to the BBC said they did not rule out the possibility of distributing rebels.

“This thing can go to any place, or to any country. It did not exist in togo but now the attacks are happy. If they can go to togo, they can get to ghana. “One of them said.

But another men accepted the cynical perspective, saying that the rebels in Burkin -fos no longer fight the Islamic Fight.

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

You can listen to Ed Batler’s report on the BBC World Service program.