Over 100 troops and locals were brutally murdered in one of the worst attacks of the year over the weekend in the Barsalogho community.
Videos of the violence analyzed by a regional expert indicate that at least 100 villagers and soldiers were killed in central Burkina Faso during a weekend attack on a village by terrorists linked to Al Qaeda. The expert has described the assault as one of the deadliest this year in the conflict-ridden West African country.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that on Saturday, fighters with the Al Qaeda-linked JNIM group invaded the area and opened fire on the villagers in the Barsalogho commune, which is 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital city. The villagers were assisting security forces in digging trenches to protect security outposts and villages.
Al Qaeda announced in a statement on Sunday that it had taken “total control over a militia position” in Barsalogho, Kaya, a strategically located town where security forces have used to repel terrorist attacks on Ouagadougou, the country’s capital, over the years.
According to Nasr, videos of the attack showed at least 100 dead. The Associated Press watched videos that seemed to be from the scene, showing dead stacked next to the trenches and shovels in the middle of gunfire, but they were unable to independently confirm the number.
“Barbarity”
In a national television broadcast on Sunday, Mahamadou Sana, Burkina Faso’s minister of security, stated that the government used both ground and aerial support to counter the attack. The minister added that military and civilians were among the dead, but she could not provide a specific figure.
“We are not going to accept such barbarity on the territory,” Sana stated. He declared that authorities are dedicated to preserving lives and that the government has ordered medical and humanitarian relief to all those impacted.
Since the country has been devastated by an increasing number of terror strikes that have surrounded the capital, around half of Burkina Faso is not under official authority. Terrorists associated with Daesh and Al Qaeda have caused thousands of deaths and forced over two million people to flee one of the most ignored disasters in history.
President Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso has also asked civilians to support the armed forces in their efforts to maintain security. Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), a citizen task force, already collaborates closely with the armed forces.
Authorities have asked residents to assist in digging various trenches in places where terrorists are attempting to take control of, including the one being dug in the commune of Barsalogho.
The absence of effective air cover and intelligence by security forces is contributing to the growing success of the terrorists. According to Nasr, they are also active due to the incompetent management of territories bordering Mali and Niger, two nations that are likewise experiencing violent attacks.
