Terror group linked to al-Qaeda claims killing of 200 soldiers in Burkina Faso

An Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for the death of 200 soldiers in Burkina Faso.

SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based organisation, confirmed on Thursday that the group had taken responsibility for an attack on soldiers at a military post in Burkina Faso’s northern town of Djibo.

SITE is a private intelligence organisation known for monitoring and analysing the online activities of extremist groups, including jihadist and far-right organisations.

According to the organisation, the JNIM released an informal statement stating that it killed 200 soldiers in the attack, a day after it claimed responsibility for the 60 dead soldiers.

“The operation comes amid increased JNIM activity in Burkina Faso over the past month, inflicting a high number of casualties,” SITE said, according to Reuters.

The organisation also previously stated that Ousmane Dicko, the head of JNIM in Burkina Faso, had appeared in a video urging residents of Djibo to leave the town for their safety.

Although there was no official toll, Reuters reported that three Djibo residents stated that dozens of soldiers and civilians were killed in the attack.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that a Burkina Faso military source indicated that the armed group could be exaggerating the number of casualties.

The Burkina Faso government has, however, yet to comment on the attack.

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Burkina Faso is at the centre of armed violence in the Sahel. Since 2019, heightened violence has displaced over a million people and left critical civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, non-functional.

Although the military government, led by Ibrahim Traore, had promised to improve the security situation and sought new security partnerships with Russia, the country’s security challenges have worsened over time.

Burkina Faso topped the 2024 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), becoming the first country in over a decade, outside Afghanistan or Iraq, to hold the top spot. In 2023, nearly 2,000 people were killed in 258 terrorist attacks, accounting for almost a quarter of global terrorism-related deaths, according to the report.