At least 100 villagers and soldiers were killed in central Burkina Faso during a weekend attack on a village by al-Qaida-linked jihadis, according to videos of the violence analyzed by a regional specialist, who described the assault as one of the deadliest this year in the conflict-battered West African nation.
Villagers in the Barsalogho commune, which is 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital city, were forcibly helping security forces dig up trenches to protect security outposts and villages on Saturday when fighters with the al-Qaida-linked JNIM group invaded the area and opened fire on them, said Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Centre security think tank.
Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack on Sunday, saying in a statement that it gained “total control over a militia position” in Barsalogho, in Kaya, a strategic town where security forces have used to fight off jihadis that have tried to close in on the capital, Ouagadougou.
At least 100 bodies were counted in videos of the attack, Nasr said. The Associated Press could not independently verify the count but reviewed videos that appeared to be from the scene, showing bodies piled beside the trenches and shovels amid gunshots.
Burkina Faso’s security minister Mahamadou Sana said in a state television broadcast on Sunday that the government responded to the attack with support from the ground and air. Among those killed were soldiers and civilians, the minister said, without stating the exact number of casualties.
“We are not going to accept such barbarity on the territory,” Sana said. He said the government has directed medical and humanitarian assistance to all those affected and that authorities are committed to protecting lives.
About half of Burkina Faso is outside of government control as the country has been ravaged by increasing jihadi attacks, encircling the capital. The jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced more than two million people.
The violence contributed to two coups in 2022. Still, the military junta that promised to end the attacks has struggled to do so, even after seeking new security partnerships with Russia and other junta-led, conflict-hit countries in Africa’s Sahel region.
At least 4,500 people, an average of 19 daily, have been killed this year in attacks by armed groups in the country, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit.
Burkina Faso’s junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore — who activists say was drafting critics to join the army as punishment — has also been requesting civilians to assist the military in security efforts. A civilian task force, Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), is already working closely with the military.
The trenches being dug in the Barsalogho commune are among the several that authorities urged civilians to help create in areas the jihadis are seeking control of.
The jihadis are becoming more successful because of a lack of efficient air cover and intelligence by security forces. They are also active because of ineffective control of areas bordering Mali and Niger, two countries also struggling with violent attacks, according to Nasr. Human rights abuses committed by the country’s security forces and VDP have also led more people to join the jihadis, he said.
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