Jihadists kill ‘dozens’ of soldiers and civilians in Burkina Faso

Troops ride in a vehicle near the French Embassy in central Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Friday March 2, 2018. (Ludivine Laniepce/AP Photo)

Two jihadist attacks in northeastern Burkina Faso early this week killed “several dozens” of soldiers and civilians, two security sources and a local source told AFP on Friday.

In a “major” attack carried out on Monday, a military unit in the village of Dargo was targeted by “armed terrorist groups”, leaving “several dozens of deaths on each side”, one of the regional security sources said.

The other security source told AFP that jihadists waged a second attack on Monday, on a supply convoy going between the towns of Dori and Gorom-Gorom.

“In that ambush, several soldiers were killed, along with civilians, notably truck drivers transporting supplies,” said the source.

A manager in a road haulage company confirmed the convoy attack, and said that “some 20 drivers and their apprentices were killed”.

The attack on the military base was claimed by the JNIM, an armed Islamist militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda that is active also in Mali and Niger.

The JNIM has risen to become the most influential jihadist threat in the Sahel region, according to the United Nations.

Burkina Faso has been plagued by attacks by the JNIM and the Islamic State group since 2015.