A gold mining boom in Burkina Faso over the last decade propelled Boukary Diallo from being a vendor on a market stall to running a meat business supplying a mine near Ouahigouya.
After a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of one employee and one soldier, the Karma mine, which Diallo supplies, was shut down in June.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project estimates that this year will likely be the bloodiest for the nation since the Sahel crisis began more than ten years ago (ACLED).
In the first half of the year, 10 of Burkina Faso’s 13 regions were the target of more than 400 attacks by the Al Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
The conflict has also triggered political crises in the country, with two military coups this year. Despite the instability, miners have managed to get people and supplies in and out of the country.