An ambush on a Ghanaian military convoy escorting civilians through the volatile Upper East Region has left three people dead and one wounded, underscoring the persistent threat posed by a long-running ethnic conflict that has resisted repeated efforts at containment.
The convoy, which was transporting 140 civilians along the Bawku-Bolgatanga corridor, came under fire Monday in the town of Binduri when unidentified gunmen attacked it on multiple occasions, the Ghana Armed Forces said in a statement. Soldiers returned fire, killing seven of the assailants.
In the aftermath of the attack, troops recovered a G3 automatic rifle, two filled magazines of 20 rounds each and 176 rounds of additional ammunition from a suspect who had fled to a nearby mosque. Ten other suspects were arrested and are assisting with investigations, the military said.
The attack is the latest flare-up in a protracted dispute between the Mamprusi and Kusasi ethnic groups over the right to appoint a chief for the Bawku area — a conflict that has claimed more than 300 lives since 2021. The violence, long centred on Bawku township, has steadily spilled into surrounding communities, with Binduri among the areas drawn into the bloodshed.
Authorities had previously imposed a nightly curfew on Binduri Township in March 2025 in response to the deteriorating security situation, only to lift it in February 2026 after conditions appeared to improve. Monday’s deadly ambush raises fresh questions about whether that assessment was premature.
The Upper East Region, bordering Burkina Faso and Togo, has historically been vulnerable to both inter-communal tensions and the creeping influence of armed groups operating across the broader Sahel. Ghanaian security forces have maintained a heightened presence in the area as the government seeks to prevent the conflict from deepening further.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah