Alassane Ouattara the President of Ivory Coast in a bid to fortify and strengthen the country’s defense system; has announced the recruitment of 3,000 soldiers in 2022. The measure is currently being taken in response to the growing terrorist threat, in the country; which has seen several attacks by different armed terrorist groups in the north of the country.
The recruitment of these 3,000 soldiers, has been provided for in the 2022 budget of the Ministry of Defence; marking the first wave of enrolment of a total of 10,000 new soldiers expected to join the Ivorian army by 2024.
This timely announcement was made after a meeting among the ECOWAS Committee Chiefs of Staff in Abidjan; where allparties supported the need for intelligence sharing among the member states.
Since last year, ivory coast has been at the forefront of fighting against armed Jihadists groups, which regularly launch attacks in the north of the country, near the border with Burkina Faso.
One of the most recent attacks took place in June 2020 Kafolo province, which left fourteen Ivorian soldiers killed.