Over 100 killed during armed Burkina Faso attack

At least 100 people have been killed during an armed attack in central Burkina Faso over the weekend in the deadliest incident in over a decade.

The ruling junta condemned the attack but did not specify the number of casualties. 

Villagers in Barsalogho, around 80 km (50 miles) from the capital, were reportedly forced to dig trenches by members of the security forces to protect security outposts from the al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), when suspected members of the group attacked the villagers.

Authorities were reportedly informed of a potential attack in the area on Friday, according to Al-Jazeera, prompting security forces to request assistance from locals.

A day after the attack, on Sunday, al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the incident, saying they seized the strategic town of Barsalogho in Kaya, which security forces have historically used to counter the group’s operations.

Clashes with members of the security forces reportedly lasted for more than seven hours, with an unknown number of personnel and JNIM members killed.

Footage on social media shows scores of bodies, assumed to be civilians due to lack of weapons, around the trenches. Relatives of those killed said at least 400 people were killed, either by direct fire or by injuries sustained during the attack, with around a hundred more hospitalised. The number of casualties claimed remains unconfirmed. 

"We have set up a unit at the university hospital in Kaya to ensure that all patients are treated free of charge, that additional examinations are carried out, and that the urgent injured are evacuated to Ouagadougou," Mohamed Poda, regional director for health in north-central Burkina Faso, reportedly told DW.

"In this backlash, we will make sure that the enemy knows that we will never again accept such barbarity on our territory," Burkina Faso's security minister Mahamadou Sana said in a state television broadcast.

On Tuesday, the United States embassy in Ouagadougou said the US "strongly condemns the terrorist attack." The attack was also condemned by the spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry, Nasser Kanaani, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.