Al Qaeda affiliate says it killed 300 fighters, not civilians in Burkina Faso attack

An Al Qaeda-linked group said it killed nearly 300 people in a recent attack in the north-central Burkina Faso, according to the U.S. consultancy SITE Intelligence cited by Reuters. The jihadist group Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed they attacked and killed militia members and soldiers who were digging trenches. A group of victims’ relatives said more than 400 people were killed when jihadists opened fire on civilians digging defensive trenches for the military. The attack near Barsalogho last Saturday was one of the deadliest in Burkina Faso's Islamist conflict. Videos released by the militants show bodies, some in civilian clothing, in trenches.

The atrocity highlights the growing danger as Burkina Faso's government increasingly relies on civilians in its fight against jihadist groups that have destabilized the Sahel region since 2012. A local advocacy groups criticized the authorities for putting civilians in harm's way, accusing them of negligence in forcing people to build trenches “which turned into mass graves.”