DAKAR (Reuters) – At least 19 members of Burkina Faso’s army were killed in an attack in the north of the country on Monday, two security sources said, the second major assault on forces fighting jihadist militants in the area in less than a week.
The West African nation has become a hotspot for attacks by insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, who have seized territory across the Sahel region south of the Sahara over the past decade, killing thousands and displacing millions despite the presence of foreign troops and United Nations peacekeepers.
The latest attack targeted a military camp in the town of Tin-Akoff in Burkina Faso’s Oudalan province, less than 100 km from where at least 51 soldiers were killed in an ambush on Friday – one of the heaviest death tolls in recent memory.
One security source who did not wish to be identified told Reuters on Tuesday that 19 soldiers were killed in Tin-Akoff, and several more were missing.
A second security source on Wednesday said around 20 soldiers were killed.
The military government that seized power in a coup last year has not publicly commented on the attack. It did not directly blame insurgents for Friday’s ambush but said that around 160 “terrorists” had been killed in reprisal air strikes.
France condemned two attacks on Burkinabe armed forces on Feb. 17 and Feb. 20 in a statement on Wednesday but did not provide details.
A local councillor in the provincial capital Gorom-Gorom, who did not wish to be named, said hundreds of civilians had fled from Tin-Akoff since Monday.
He said the displaced described armed assailants burning down homes and indiscriminately shooting at civilians, including women, children and the elderly.
“They saw so many burnt bodies,” he said, breaking into tears as he spoke to Reuters via telephone on Wednesday.
The latest bloodshed in Oudalan, a focal point of jihadist violence on the border with Mali, coincides with concerns about a security vacuum following the end of French military operations officially announced over the weekend.
The departure of French special forces is a result of deteriorating relations between France and Burkina Faso’s junta, which has vowed to restore security but said it wished to do so alone.
Last year France pulled troops out of Mali, where the Sahel insurgency first took root in 2012, after butting heads with a junta there. Several other countries have followed suit.
(Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Alessandra Prentice and Grant McCool)
