Terrorists have killed two Ghanaian drivers close to the Burkina Faso-Mali border, officials have confirmed.
According to the acting Chairman of the Joint Association of Port Transport Union, Alhaji Shamsu Baba Yaro the deceased have been identified as Mouhamed Moumen and Suleiman Gariba.
They reportedly stopped at a security barrier near the Burkina Faso to Mali Border in a town called Koury to settle their travel arrangements, where they had to pay CFA 1,000.
The trucks had left Ghana’s Takoradi Port with floor tiles and were heading towards the Malian capital of Bamako to deliver to an importer.
Imminent danger
Ghana has been on high alert in recent times following warnings that terrorists are likely to extent their activities to the country.
An alarming rise in jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso is posing a mounting threat to security in three of its coastal neighbours including Ghana.
Security fears have increased since the killing of four Burkinabe customs officials and a Spanish priest who was returning from a meeting in Togo’s capital, Lome.
They were killed just after crossing the border.
Bakary Sambe, the head of the Timbuktu Institute in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, said the upsurge in violence “seems to indicate that Burkina Faso is the last obstacle that these groups want to get over to reach the coast”.
Northern Ghana, Togo and Benin could become “ideal staging points” for jihadists hiding in forested areas or isolated rural locations along the porous border, he added.
“What’s more, stretching their area of operations far from the current epicentre of jihadism could allow them access to the sea via west African ports” and possibly new networks for acquiring weapons, he told AFP.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
