Death toll rises after village attack

GAO (AP):

The death toll from the deadliest attack in Burkina Faso in years has risen to at least 132 people and countless others wounded, security officials said on Monday.

Jihadis on Friday night launched an assault on civilians in Solhan village in the Sahel’s Yagha province, shooting people and burning down homes and the market, the government said. Many of the wounded were taken to hospitals in Dori town and the country’s capital, Ouagadougou. Nearly 800 people have fled to the nearby town of Sebba, according to an internal report for aid workers seen by The Associated Press.

An aid worker in Sebba said there were more than 40 people with bullet wounds and burns from fleeing the attack. The aid worker spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t permitted to speak to the media.

A local journalist, who also didn’t want to be named for fear of his safety, told the AP he saw wounded people in Dori’s hospital lying all over the floor.

For five years, Burkina Faso’s ill-equipped and undertrained army has been struggling to stem a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, often arriving late, or not at all, to attacks.

While no group has claimed responsibility, Sahel analysts say this attack was likely carried out by the al-Qaida-linked group JNIM, which has recently strengthened its position in the area and is the most influential group in the province, said Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project.

“After the attack in Solhan, the assailants withdrew and also planted explosives to prevent army access, both the geographic aspect and the use of explosives in this manner is not typical for Islamic State, but rather JNIM modus operandi,” he said.

The attacks were a response to the presence of volunteer fighters in the area, community volunteers fighting alongside the army. Since the programme started last year, volunteers have become both perpetrators of violence against civilians as well as targets for the jihadis, who accuse them of supporting the army, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.