On 19 March 2025, the Burkinabe army and volunteer fighters (VDP) attacked civilians from Fulani and Gourmatche community in the village of Tiargou (Gayeri, Komandjari). About 30 civilians were killed.

Supply-chain Risk Briefing

1) Summary On March 19, 2025, in the village of Tiargou in the Gayeri region of Comoé Province, Burkina Faso, the Burkinabé military and civilian volunteer defense forces (VDP) attacked Fulani and Gourmantché civilians, resulting in approximately 30 deaths. This represents a high-risk incident demonstrating the ongoing deterioration of security and deepening ethnic conflicts in the West African Sahel region.

2) Supply-chain impact

• Agricultural production disruption: Comoé Province is an eastern agricultural zone of Burkina Faso, and attacks on the Fulani people, who are engaged in livestock farming, are expected to negatively impact livestock and related agricultural supply chains
• Regional logistics paralysis: Transportation and logistics activities in the Gayeri region are likely to be constrained due to security concerns, potentially disrupting material movement near the Niger-Benin border
• Mining operation risks: Eastern Burkina Faso is an area with active gold mining operations, and deteriorating security conditions raise concerns about disruptions to small-scale gold mine operations and export routes
• Humanitarian crisis expansion: Deepening inter-ethnic conflicts could lead to large-scale population displacement and refugee flows, potentially increasing logistics pressure on neighboring countries

3) Watch points

• Track the Burkinabé government's incident response measures and whether additional military operations are planned for the eastern region
• Monitor the scale of refugee influx into neighboring countries like Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, and changes in border region logistics congestion
• Review response measures at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) level and trends in regional security policy changes