Al Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for Burkina attack

15/5/2025 6:17

Al Qaeda affiliate JNIM has

claimed responsibility for an attack targeting a military post

in Burkina Faso's northern Loroum province in which the group

said 60 soldiers were killed, the SITE Intelligence Group said

on Tuesday.



The U.S.-based non-governmental organization, which tracks

online activity of Islamist militants, said JNIM had posted

messages on Monday and Tuesday in which it took credit for four

assaults in Burkina Faso and Mali.



The attacks highlight the difficulties the three Sahel

nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, ruled by military

leaders, are facing in containing the insurgents.



Burkina authorities have not commented on the latest

attacks.



The most notable attack occurred in the Burkina town of

Sole, where JNIM fighters raided the army military post and

killed soldiers, SITE Intelligence said, without specifying on

which day it took place.



Another Burkina attack killed 10 members of a pro-government

militia known as VDP in eastern Gnagna province, SITE added.



In a separate statement, SITE said Ousmane Dicko, head of

Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JMIN) in Burkina, had

appeared in a video urging residents of Djibo, located in the

north of Burkina Faso, to leave the town for their own safety.



An army base in Djibo came under attack on Sunday morning,

and a police station and market were also targeted, security

sources told Reuters.



Three Djibo residents described an intense assault involving

hundreds of fighters on facilities housing soldiers and

pro-government militiamen. Although there was no official toll,

the witnesses said dozens of soldiers and civilians were killed.



"The population saw soldiers burnt in the flames of

explosions. Multiple military arsenals were taken and civilians

were killed by gunfire," a teacher in Djibo, told Reuters.



A series of videos on social media on Wednesday showed

unidentified insurgents on foot and motor-bikes roving around

the eastern town of Diapaga near the border with Niger and Mali.



Gunfire rang in the air and black smoke billowed at a

distance in one video, while in another, the insurgents posed

for pictures and tore down flags of junta-led countries and

Russia.



Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the videos.



"JNIM is demonstrating that it can seize major towns with

little deterrence from security forces, and it is likely to

continue mounting such attacks in its strongholds," said Beverly

Ochieng, senior analyst at Control Risks.