GOLD: Semafo reports more killings near mines in Burkina Faso

BURKINA FASO – On Nov. 30, Burkina Faso government security forces were attacked on the road between Semafo‘s Fada and Boungou mine, about 40 km away, leaving four gendarmes and a driver dead. No Semafo employees were involved, “but senior management continues its discussions with the government regarding the security of the public road,” the company states in a press release on Dec. 3. John Jentz, Semafo’s VP of corporate development and investor relations, declined to comment on the incident or discuss who might be behind the attacks. According to the International Crisis Group, jihadist militants have ramped up attacks in the north and east of Burkina Faso, mainly against security forces. ICG notes that the Nov. 30 incident that killed five people involved a roadside bomb and gun attack. In August, Semafo started flying expatriate employees by helicopter from its Boungou and Mana mines in Burkina Faso to the capital city of Ouagadougou. The Toronto-based company also heightened and reinforced escorts for the transportation of its national employees between the mines and their villages. At Boungou, the government deployed a ground military force on the route between the mine and the capital, which is still there today. The adjusted security protocols followed two fatal security incidents earlier that month. A bus transporting employees from the town of Bobo-Dioulasso to its Mana mine, about 80 km away, was driving along the main Bobo road when it encountered a hold-up by bandits and there was an exchange of gunfire. A Semafo national employee and a sub-contractor were killed. Earlier the same week, five gendarmes and one sub-contractor employee lost their lives in an armed attack between the town of Fada and the Boungou mine in the Est region of Burkina Faso. The two incidents in the third week of August did not affect operations at either mine site. This story first appeared on www.NorthernMiner.com.