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Conflict coverage · Central Sahel

The encirclement of Djibo begins

16 – 17 Feb 2022Key eventEssentialDjibo, Soum province

MilitaryHumanitarianTerritorial changeState authority and military rule

Jihadist forces, primarily Ansarul Islam and JNIM, encircled the Soum provincial capital of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso, destroying infrastructure, mining the roads and ambushing supply convoys. Surrounding populations were forcibly relocated into the town, taking it from about 60,000 inhabitants to between 200,000 and 300,000, and about 370,000 by December 2022. From around May 2022 resupply depended chiefly on humanitarian airlift.

Why it mattersDjibo is the blockade instrument applied completely, and it is why this module covers Burkina Faso and Mali together. What Bamako has experienced since 2025 as corridor interdiction, Djibo has experienced since 2022 as total encirclement: population concentrated inside, roads mined, convoys ambushed, supply by air. The siege has run for more than four years and the town has not fallen — which is also the point. This is a method for making a place ungovernable without capturing it.
Confidence: HighSources: ACLED conflict data & analysis↗ · International Crisis Group↗ · UN OCHA humanitarian reporting (Mali / Sahel)↗ · Established international media reportingMethodologyCorrections

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