ACCRA, Mar 5 (THE AFRICAN PORTAL) – Veteran Ghanaian journalist Kwesi Pratt Jr. has alleged that intelligence agencies from Ukraine were involved in a recent terrorist attack in Burkina Faso that affected Ghanaian tomato traders.
Pratt, managing editor of the newspaper The Insight, said Ukrainian intelligence agencies had connections with militant groups operating in the Sahel region.
Speaking at a public event in remarks circulated in a video on social media following the attack, Pratt said his claims were based on what he described as concrete evidence.
“The terrorists who killed the Ghanaian women going to buy tomatoes were supplied by Ukraine, and this is not rumour,” he said, adding that Ukrainian intelligence had previously admitted involvement in militant activities in the Sahel.
Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
The Sahel region of West Africa, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, has experienced a surge in attacks by Islamist militant groups in recent years, often targeting military installations as well as civilians.
Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, Ghana’s interior minister, confirmed that a truck carrying Ghanaian tomato traders was caught in a terrorist attack in the northern Burkinabe town of Titao on Feb. 14.
In a statement issued on Feb. 15, the ministry described the information received from Burkina Faso as “disturbing”.
“The Government of Ghana has received disturbing information from Burkina Faso of a truck carrying tomato traders from Ghana which was caught in a terrorist attack in Titao, Burkina Faso,” the statement said.
Local reports said the assault targeted a military camp in the town, damaging installations during the attack.
Titao, located in northern Burkina Faso, has faced repeated armed assaults and has been under pressure from Islamist militant groups since 2019.
