This archive report was first published on 13 July 2020.
On July 13, 2020, Ivory Coast's government authorized the creation of an operational zone in response to a pre-dawn attack by Islamist extremists on the country's border with Burkina Faso.
The attack, which occurred at Kafolo, left 14 army personnel dead and marked the first assault by Islamist extremists on Ivorian soil since March 2016, when a raid on the southeastern beach resort of Grand-Bassam left 19 people dead.
According to a statement made at the end of a cabinet meeting, the government has given the green light for the creation of a single central command for military operations in the new zone.
The zone will enable the military to move from a phase of border surveillance to a defensive posture, in order to prevent any infiltration of armed groups onto national territory.
Security sources believe the attack was carried out by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), an organization linked to Al-Qaeda.
Approximately 60 people, including the jihadist leader who led the June 11 assault, were arrested before and after the attack, according to security sources.
The attack occurred in the same zone where Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso launched a joint operation to flush out jihadists in May.
Ivory Coast shares a 550-kilometre border with Burkina Faso, where jihadist violence has claimed nearly 1,000 lives and forced 860,000 people from their homes over the past five years.
