Burkina Faso continues to build up its military amid ongoing terror attacks, and to this end has taken delivery of Bayraktar Akinci unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Turkey and nearly 100 military vehicles, including Temsah and Fahd armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from Egypt.

Burkina Faso’s Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Kassoum Coulibaly, received the vehicles during a handover ceremony on 18 April. He gave the equipment to the military’s Chief of General Staff, Brigadier General Celestin Simpore, and this included at least two Temsah 6×6 armoured vehicles, seven Fahd armoured ambulances, and 20 GAZ 3308 Sadco 4×4 trucks. A number of KrAZ-6322 6×6 trucks were also seen.

According to local media reports, a total of 75 vehicles were handed over and these included 20 KrAZ fuel tanker trucks, 20 “M53” vehicles, and several armoured cars.

Coulibaly said the acquisition was funded entirely by Burkina Faso with the support of Egypt. In January, it emerged that Egypt’s Arab Organisation of Industrialisation (AOI) had signed a contract to supply an unnamed African country with 25 Fahd APCs in addition to delivering the latest ambulance version of the APC to Burkina Faso.

The latest equipment delivery came after Burkina Faso’s military ruler Ibrahim Traore pledged further acquisitions. In March, Coulibaly received from China more than 80 vehicles offered to the military. These included over a dozen Maxus double cab pickups; and a number of cargo trucks, tanker trucks, and crane trucks, apparently manufactured by Dongfeng.