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BURKINA FASO
18 KILLED IN ARMED RAID, NEW DISPLACEMENTS
On 1 February, an unknown armed group attacked Lamdamol village, near Gorgadji, in the northern Sahel region, killing 18 civilians, including the chief nurse, according to a statement issued by the Government of Burkina Faso. This is the 13th incident targeting civilians reported in the Sahel region since the beginning of 2020. In the northern Nord region, around 6,000 new IDPs have arrived in Titao and Ouindigui after two security incidents on 24 January in the villages of Hitté and Bouna. In addition, since 26 January, an unknown number of people have been fleeing the villages of Ankouma, Ourba, Sampala and Yalgo towards Pensa and Bouroum.
CENTRAL SAHEL
MILLIONS FACE HUNGER AMID ESCALATING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
On 3 February, three United Nations agencies (FAO, UNICEF and WFP) warned that the number of people facing a critical lack of food and vital livelihood opportunities in the Central Sahel has spiked in one year due to rising insecurity and climatic shocks. According to the latest food security analysis, 3.3 million people need immediate assistance in the Central Sahel, nearly 1 million more than last year. If no appropriate actions are taken urgently, close to 4.8 million people in the Central Sahel will be at risk of food insecurity during the June-August lean season, up from 2.4 million in 2019. The situation in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger is alarming as conflict and its impacts on communities have become the main cause of food insecurity. Climate change is also disrupting already fragile livelihoods. Overall, the increasing vulnerability of rural populations, insecurity and conflict over resources, are disrupting social cohesion, leading to a worsening crisis in the Sahel. Immediate assistance to respond to urgent needs must be coupled with substantial investments in rural livelihoods and social services, to reinforce social cohesion and provide the foundations for peace in the region.
DR CONGO
FOOD CRISIS FEARS AMIDST GROWING INSECURITY
Since the end of December 2019, violence by armed groups in the territories of Djugu, Irumu, Mahagi and Aru, in the eastern Ituri province, has led to loss of lives and the displacement of more than 100,000 people. The deterioration of the security situation in Djugu has resulted in rising food prices, as families are not able to farm their lands – leading to an absence of food on markets. Considered the breadbasket of the province, Djugu had been classified in emergency phase 4 in the results of the IPC17, which raises fears of a food crisis.
ATTACKS IN BENI TERRITORY UPROOT OVER 22,000 PEOPLE
Thousands of residents of the villages of Avei, Mamove, Mantumbi and Musuku, in eastern Beni territory, North-Kivu province, have reportedly fled their homes following successive attacks by armed men on 30 January. Local organizations estimate that as many as 22,000 people could have fled to Mangina and surrounding areas in the western part of the territory. Attacks on civilians have increased since the beginning of the year, as a consequence of incursions by non-state armed groups. In neighbouring Masisi Territory, nearly 2,500 people have been newly displaced in Bibwe, adding to some 3,500 others who arrived in the territory between July and November 2019.
CHAD
ARMED ATTACK CAUSES HUNDREDS OF DISPLACED
Following an armed attack on 27 January near the fishing village of Daban Lami in the western Lac province, 500 people fled to take refuge in the village of Koulfoua, located in the same sub-prefecture. This is one in a long series of attacks perpetrated by non-state armed groups in the Lac province over the past few months. Recently, 400 people arrived in Koulfoua, of which 146 had moved preventively from the village of Mandari due to the growing insecurity in the islands of the Lake Chad.
