A coordinated insurgent attack in northern Burkina Faso has left dozens of soldiers and civilians dead, marking one of the deadliest assaults in the region in recent months.
Security and local sources confirmed that on Sunday morning, hundreds of armed fighters launched simultaneous attacks on military and police installations in the town of Djibo, a longtime target of insurgent activity. The attackers, arriving on motorcycles and in vehicles, reportedly encircled the town before storming various neighborhoods, leading to civilian and military casualties.
Located in the volatile tri-border region shared with Mali and Niger, Djibo has been under siege by insurgent groups for over three years. Residents and security sources described scenes of violence, including reported executions of adult males in front of their homes, while women and children were largely spared.
Eyewitnesses reported that gunfire lasted for several hours, with insurgents maintaining a presence in the town from early morning until around 1 pm, fleeing only before Burkinabe special forces arrived. A West African security news group, Wamaps, described the attack’s toll as “very heavy.”
By Sunday evening, calm had returned to Djibo, but the atmosphere remained somber. “The town is in mourning. We don’t understand how such an attack could last for hours without immediate response,” one resident told AFP. Due to the region’s instability, safe travel in and out of Djibo remains restricted, with the army organizing infrequent escorted convoys for supplies.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) has claimed responsibility for the attack. Security sources noted additional insurgent activity in other northern and central parts of the country on the same day, though no further casualty reports were immediately available.
Burkina Faso, under military rule since Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in 2022, has experienced a surge in extremist violence over the past decade, with over 26,000 people killed since 2015—more than half of them in the last three years, according to conflict-monitoring group ACLED.
The country’s security forces, along with civilian volunteers, have also faced growing accusations of human rights violations. On Monday, Human Rights Watch reported that the military was involved in a March massacre of at least 130 ethnic Fulani civilians.
Sunday’s violence in Djibo occurred as junta leader Traoré returned from Moscow, where he attended a military parade alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin. Burkina Faso’s junta has recently strengthened ties with Russia while distancing itself from former colonial power France.