File photo: Soldiers

A security analyst, Dr Adam Bonaa, has described the capital town of the Upper East Region, Bawku as a complete war zone.

He said people who have visited Bawku in the last year will attest to the fact.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Thursday, he said, “.. Bawku is a war zone, it doesn’t look like the way we are describing it. It is a complete war zone,” he emphasised.

According to him, the 11th mechanised military unit based in Bawku can also confirm his comment, adding that “even they themselves become overwhelmed.”

“In recent days, I have intercepted some audios from young people in Bawku threatening that they have what it takes to flush out the military, you must be prepared to actually make such a statement and come out with such a statement,” he added.  

This comment is against the backdrop of the military in Bawku being accused of killing some residents.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has rejected claims that its personnel deployed to Bawku to restore calm and maintain order have killed seven locals.

According to GAF, the reportage is untrue and should be ignored. 

GAF in a press release issued on Thursday, February 2, and signed by its Director of Public Relations, chronicled several incidents of violent attacks in the area. 

However, the release stated that the soldiers engaged a group of armed men and neutralised six of them.

Reacting to this development, he asserted that the trend happening in Bawku is worrying.

According to him, “the sporadic fighting with the military did not start today.”

Dr Adam Bonaa added that the current escalation could probably stem from the presence of jihadists at the border.

He, therefore, called for a thorough investigation as there are rumours of suspected jihadist presence.

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The security analyst further called on the state to pay more attention to the conflict in the area.