The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks perpetrated on the evening of Tuesday, 28 February 2017, by Ansarul Islam of Ibrahim Malam Dicko against two police stations in the province of Soum in northern Burkina Faso, where a civilian was wounded and some buildings and vehicles were burned. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the OIC Secretary General, Dr Yousef A. Othaimeen indicated that those people who use Islam in a fraudulent way to justify their terrorist acts are criminals who must be pursued and brought to justice for punishment. He pointed out that the principles of Islam are completely opposed to hatred and violence. The Secretary General has therefore expressed his concern vis-à-vis the persistence of such acts at the common borders of Burkina Faso and Mali. Hence, he has called for better counter-terrorism coordination in the sub-region, encouraging the implementation of the joint force between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in order to fight insecurity in the area of Liptako-Gourma.
