An attack on 24 August 2024 by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) terrorists, an al-Qaeda-linked jihadist organization, killed hundreds of soldiers of the Burkina Faso Armed Forces, as well as civilians who were digging defensive trenches[3] in the Barsalogho Department of northern Burkina Faso. The attack is part of an ongoing jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso and the Sahel.[4][1] It is the deadliest attack in the country's history.[5]
Since August 2015, a civil conflict between the Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels has killed at least 10,000 civilians and combatants and displaced more than 2 million people. Almost half of Burkina Faso's territory is in the hands of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists.[4] The war is part of the wider insurgency in the Sahel.[6][7][8]
In August 2024, jihadists began to close in on the Barsalogho Department city of Kaya, which represented the last defensive line between the terrorists and Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou. In anticipation of an attack, the Burkina Faso Armed Forces recruited nearby residents to dig defensive trenches around the town of Barsalogho, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the north of Kaya.[4]
On 24 August 2024, from 09:00 to 16:00,[2] a group of JNIM terrorists opened fire on soldiers and townspeople who were digging defensive trenches for the army and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP)[3]—a civilian armed group that supports the Burkinabe military.[9] Several dozen people were killed, while many wounded people were taken to a hospital in Kaya. Most of the victims were young residents of the town who helped soldiers dig trenches.[10] Local officials and members of the VDP were also among the casualties.[9] The attackers captured several weapons and an ambulance used by the Burkinabe military.[4] On 27 August, sources told Reuters that the attack had likely killed at least 400 or 500 people.[1] Burkinabe soldiers, auxiliaries, and air support responded to the attack, reportedly killing several terrorists and limiting further Burkinabe casualties.[9][10]
After the attack, JNIM released several videos of the bodies of those killed.[4] The group's leader, Iyad Ag Ghaly, claimed that it had taken control of a militia headquarters in Barsalogho.[11] The JNIM killed people in the trenches where they were digging in an effort to turn them into mass graves, and claimed that the army ordered civilians to dig military trenches in an apparent act of desperation to counter the jihadists' advances.[4]