TERRORIST ATTACKS OR RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE

Running head: TERRORIST ATTACKS OR RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE 1

Terrorist Attacks or Religious Violence

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Terrorist Attacks or Religious Violence

What many may presume to be terrorist attacks on innocent civilians may actually turn out to be religious wars between one religious faction and another. The situation in Burkina Faso, West Africa is indisputably a religious war as viewed from a security analyst position at the Department of Defense.

The sixteenth day of February 2020 saw at least twenty-four people were killed in a church. This barbaric act could be assumed to be a terrorist attack, but is that really the case? Hundreds of people have been reported to have been killed in the past year and nearly half a million people have fled their homes. It is prudent to note that no extremist group has claimed responsibility for these attacks which rules out the possibility of the attacks being spearheaded by terrorists. Additionally, the timing of this attack, as well as the trend that has been witnessed including the attacking of churches and assassinations of priests and pastors reveal that the war is primarily between the Muslims and the Christians.

Religious wars in other countries in Africa have resulted to cession of countries. Sudan and South Sudan is an example of another country in Africa where religious wars between the Islam and the Christians led to the cession of Modern day South Sudan from Sudan. In our case, cession would be the best option to achieve peace in this locality. The strengths of this recommendation include, there is going to be peace which has not been experienced for some time now, the affected parties, Christians, will be able to enjoy the recourse of the International Court of Justice if the divided state dares attack their citizens. However, this recommendation is oblivious of the fact that Burkina Faso has suffered drought and military coups in the past and given its economic status may not be able to support a cession. Additionally, history has proven that cession always results in civil-war, for example in South Sudan where civil war persists even today after ceding from Sudan in 2011.

The wars in Burkina Faso are religious wars despite allusions that they are propagated by extremist groups seeking to gain control over West Africa. It is subject to the lack of claims by the existing extremist groups accepting the responsibility of the attacks that I take the stance that these attacks are purely instigated by religious subscriptions. Decisively, leadership in Burkina Faso should be keen on addressing religious heads in the country in order to bring to an end the existing strife.

Reference

Reuters. (2020, February 17). Gunmen Kill at Least 24 at Church in Burkina Faso. Retrieved February 18, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/world/africa/burkina-faso-church-attack.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

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