The offensive happened on Saturday in the Barsalogho district, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Kaya, a strategically important town that is home to the last remaining troops defending Ouagadougou, the capital, according to analysts.
As teams of workers dug trenches to guard security outposts, fighters began fire. Following the raid, a number of soldiers went missing, and the attackers stole a military ambulance and firearms.
Al Jazeera's Nicholas Haque, reporting from Dakar, Senegal, claimed that JNIM had uploaded graphic footage of the attack's aftermath.
"We witness individuals—men, women, and children—lying within the trenches that they dug by hand. They have essentially become mass graves, he continued, saying that the local hospital has summoned physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel from Kaya.
to treat those injured during the incident.
According to Haque, the Burkina Faso army was aware of an impending invasion on Friday and instructed the locals to prepare trenches.
"That demonstrates the desperation of Burkina Faso's forces, who have lost control of half of their territory to al-Qaeda-linked armed groups," he said.
Burkina Faso has severed ties with Western countries, including France, which had assisted the country's security services in combating armed groups.
According to Haque, the government has recently requested the assistance of Russian mercenary forces to both strategically support it and help stem the attacks.
Despite the support, it appears like the attacks are getting closer and closer.
"To the capital," Haque stated. He pointed out that the country's military authorities, who took power in a coup in 2022, have had to repel multiple attempted coups due to dissatisfaction with how the country has dealt with the fight against armed organizations.
Over the past decade, armed groups have killed thousands of people and displaced more than two million in Burkina Faso.
The country topped the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) list of the world's most ignored displacement problems.
According to the NRC, violence killed over 8,400 people last year, more than double the previous year's death toll.
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