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At least 600 people were killed during a recent assault by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) in Burkina Faso, a French government security assessment has said.
In August, residents of Barsalogho, a Burkinabe town, were digging trenches around the town to protect themselves from terrorist attacks when the al-Qaeda-linked militants rode in on motorcycles and opened fire.
Many of those killed in the attack are believed to be women and children. Most of the victims were buried in the trenches.
The United Nations (UN) had said the death toll from the “horrific” incident was around 200 — although the JNIM said it killed nearly 300 people.
The increased casualty figure, if confirmed, would be among the highest so far in the West African country grappling with a jihadist insurgency.
“Large-scale deadly attacks (at least a hundred deaths) against civilian populations or defence and security forces have been occurring for several weeks at a rate that seems unsustainable for the government,” CNN quoted the French government report as saying of Burkina Faso.
The attack also shows that the country “which no longer really has a military strategy to offer and whose propaganda discourse seems out of breath and ideas” is losing discipline in a deteriorating army, the report added.
A few days after the incident, claims surfaced on social media alleging that the attack happened in Nigeria.
Edward Buba, director, of defence media operations, debunked the reports and urged the public to note terrorists’ antics of spreading disinformation as part of their war propaganda effort.
