Al Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for June 11 attack

17/6/2024 6:11

        Al Qaeda affiliate Jama'a
        Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) group has claimed
        responsibility for what it said was attack on June 11 that
        killed over 100 Burkina Faso soldiers in Mansila area near the
        border with Niger, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Sunday.
        
        A spokesman for Burkina Faso's ruling junta has not
        responded to a Reuters request for comment about an attack in
        the area.
        
        SITE quoted a JNIM statement as saying that five days
        ago "fighters stormed a military post in the town, where they
        killed 107 soldiers and took control of the site".
        
        Several videos shared online by the insurgents showed
        raging gunfire around the army base. Another video showed a
        display of dozens of weapons and ammunitions, and at least seven
        Burkina Faso soldiers captured by the insurgents.
        
        Reuters has not authenticated the videos.
        
        The reported attack was one of the deadliest suffered by
        the West African Sahel nation's army as it, alongside neighbours
        Niger and Mali, struggle to contain insurgencies linked to al
        Qaeda and Islamic State.
        
        Over more than a decade, the insurgencies have killed
        thousands and displaced over two million in Burkina Faso. The
        unrest is also threatening the stability of the region as the
        insurgents, who control swathes of territories in Burkina Faso
        and Mali, use them as bases to target southern coastal
        countries.