Militias Attack Army Detachment in Northern Burkina Faso

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 28 2023

Servicemen stand guard during the burial of the soldiers killed in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on October 8, 2022. PHOTO | AFP

By AFP

Security sources that spoke to AFP on Tuesday said jihadists carried out a major attack against an army detachment in Burkina Faso's northern town of Djibo.

The detachment in the Sahel region was the target of a "large-scale militia attack perpetrated by armed terrorist groups" on Sunday, a security source said, adding that the army imposed "heavy losses" on the attackers.

Some soldiers were killed in the attack they said, without giving a figure.

The attack and the losses among the assailants' ranks were confirmed by other sources.

"The attack began around 3:00 pm (local time) and was carried out by several hundred-armed men who tried in vain to penetrate the (military base)," said the source.

They added that the attackers were hit by an army aircraft.

The security source said that the attack was carried out by "several waves of armed groups" for more than three hours.

A follow-up search for the militia survivors of the attack on Monday "made it possible to neutralise several dozen other terrorists", the source said.

The Burkina Faso Information Agency said, "more than 400 terrorists (were) destroyed during the counter-offensive by the Burkinabe Armed Forces against nearly 3,000 criminals who tried to seize the town of Djibo."

The nation is battling a militia insurgency that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015 and has left more than 17,000 civilians and soldiers dead and displaced two million people.

Burkina Faso is ruled by a transitional government put in place after a September 2022 coup.

The junta-led government has been conscripting men over 18 for its anti-militia fight.