The death toll from a jihadist attack on a Burkina Faso army unit in the country’s north last week rose to 51, military officials said on Monday, after 43 new bodies were found.
The military unit was ambushed in Oudalan province in the Sahel region between the cities of Deou and Oursi, the Burkinabe army said on Monday. Reinforcements were sent to the scene and an unknown number of injured were taken to hospital.
The West African nation has been ravaged for seven years by violence linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which has killed thousands, displaced nearly 2 million and caused a humanitarian crisis.
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The failure of successive governments to deal effectively with the problem led to two coups last year, with each military leader vowing to stem the attacks and protect the country, albeit to limited success.
51 people are said to have died in an attack on Burkina Faso’s military by Islamic extremists. (Fox News)
Last week’s attack came as some 400 French special forces soldiers were leaving Burkina Faso, a month after the junta government ordered them to leave, following in the wake of neighboring Mali, also ruled by a dictatorship military.
Although French troop numbers in Burkina Faso were far smaller than those in Mali, their departure adds to growing concerns that Islamist extremists are capitalizing on the political turmoil and using it to expand their reach.
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Analysts have questioned whether the countries’ militaries are able to fill the gap.
“The struggle of state forces to avoid deadly attacks, especially such an ambush against convoys, is a major concern as it comes at a time when the state is trying to assert its presence and drive jihadists out of areas they control,” said Rida Lyammouri. , senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.
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“If convoys are repeatedly targeted, recovering land and providing protection to civilians will take a long time and be deadly,” Lyammouri added.
