ABIDJAN – Suspected jihadists killed at least 10 civilians at the weekend at a market in the north of Burkina Faso, security officials and locals told AFP on Tuesday.

The West African nation has been battered by a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

Thousands of civilians, troops and police have been killed and anger within the military at the mounting toll sparked two coups in 2022.
“Sunday was a black day for Manni,” said a resident of the town in the province of Gnagna.
“Terrorists attacked the town in the evening, wreaking death and destruction.”
“It’s difficult to give an exact toll but at least 10 people died and more than 50 wounded people were taken to the Manni medical centre,” the local said.

Another local said the attackers had directly targeted the market.
“They opened fire when they turned up, creating general panic. Then they looted shops and set the whole place alight,” he said, adding that he feared the toll would be “huge, given the scale of the attack”.

“The hospital is overwhelmed and the wounded had to be tended to in the courtyard,” he continued.
Videos circulating on social media purported to show medical staff tending to injured people in a courtyard said to be that of the Manni hospital.

A security official, speaking anonymously, told AFP there had been a “jihadist attack”.
“Fighting forces are in action in the area,” he added, without giving details.
In line with a policy it has followed for months, the military junta ruling the West African country did not give an official toll for the violence. The junta vowed when it seized power in 2022 to make fighting “terrorists” a priority.

More than 26000 people have been reported killed in armed attacks in Burkina since 2015, more than 6000 of them this year, according to NGO Acled, which collects information on reported political violence and protests around the world.
On Saturday, the day before the Manni attack, junta leader Ibrahim Traore had conducted a lengthy question and answer session with callers to public radio.
“We are in conflict with armed bandits who kill indiscriminately. We don’t want reconciliation with them. We will fight until they raise the white flag themselves,” he said.

Burkina endured its worst ever registered attack in late August, when gunmen reportedly killed hundreds of civilians and security personnel near the northern village of Barsalogho.

A group linked to Al-Qaeda, known by its Arabic initials JNIM, claimed responsibility for the assault, which a group representing victims’ families said had killed more than 400 civilians.

A security source from France, the former colonial power, said around 600 civilians had died.

Victims’ families have accused military officials of exposing them to their killers by forcing them to leave their village to dig a trench for the army three kilometres (1.9 miles) away.

Videos circulating on social media purport to show gunmen firing automatic weapons at a trench containing at least 91 bodies. Traore said on Saturday an investigation into the Barsalogho attack was under way, adding: “Those responsible will be identified in a few days’ time.” 

– Nampa/AFP