Massacre in Burkina Faso left 600 dead, double previous estimates, according to French security assessment
By Saskya Vandoorne, Nick Paton Walsh and Gianluca Mezzofiore, CNN
7 minute read
Published 12:01 AM EDT, Fri October 4, 2024
Hundreds killed in one of the deadliest attacks in years in Africa
02:50 - Source: CNN
Editor’s note: This story contains a graphic image and descriptions of violence.
CNN —
Up to 600 people were shot dead in a matter of hours by al Qaeda-linked militants in an August attack on a town in Burkina Faso, according to a French government security assessment that nearly doubles the death toll cited in earlier reports. The new figure would make the assault, in which civilians were shot dead as they dug trenches to defend the remote town of Barsalogho, one of the deadliest single attacks in Africa in recent decades.
Militants from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al Qaeda affiliate based in Mali and active in Burkina Faso, opened fire methodically as they swept into the outskirts of Barsalogho on motorcycles and shot down villagers, who lay helpless in the freshly upturned dirt of the trench, according to several videos of the August 24 attack posted by pro-JNIM accounts on social media. Many of the dead were women and children, and the footage is punctuated by the sound of automatic gunfire and screams of victims as they are shot while apparently trying to play dead.
The horrific death toll, if the French government estimate is confirmed, would mark an unusually brutal moment in the Sahel, an increasingly lawless swathe of West Africa just south of the Sahara where security projects spearheaded by the United States and French militaries have struggled to slow the march of jihadists. A series of coups across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger led to the departure of French and American forces. The Russian mercenaries summoned by the juntas to bolster their grip have instead left a vacuum in which jihadists have thrived, says the assessment, given to CNN by a French security official.
A view of the town of Barsalogho, Burkina Faso, where up to 600 people were killed by al Qaeda-linked militants in an August attack, according to a French government security assessment.
AFP/Getty Images
The United Nations initially estimated the death toll was at least 200. JNIM said it had killed nearly 300 people but claimed it had targeted militia members affiliated with the army, rather than civilians, according to a translation by Site Intelligence Group cited by Reuters.
“Large-scale deadly attacks (at least a hundred deaths) against civilian populations or defense and security forces have been occurring for several weeks at a rate that seems unsustainable for the government,” the report says of Burkina Faso, “which no longer really has a military strategy to offer and whose propaganda discourse seems out of breath and ideas.”
The French official told CNN there had been a “very significant deterioration in the security situation” in Burkina Faso where “armed-terrorist groups are enjoying increasing freedom of action because security forces are unable to cope.” The report notes an attack on a military convoy in the village of Tawori, 15 days before the attack in Barsalogho, where “no fewer than 150 soldiers” were killed by jihadists, adding that the military is struggling to retain potency and credibility.
On September 17, the capital of nearby Mali, Bamako, was rocked by another JNIM assault, which hit the airport, among other key buildings, and killed more than 70 people.
‘Defensive trenches’ became mass grave
The massacre at Barsalogho came as locals were ordered by the military to dig a vast trench network around the town to protect it from jihadists circulating nearby. The JNIM gunmen then attacked the defenses, mid-construction, falsely claiming the civilians were combatants because of their involvement, according to eyewitnesses.
One survivor, who asked for anonymity when he spoke to CNN as he still feared for his safety despite having fled the town, said he was one of dozens of men told to dig the trenches by the army that Saturday. He was 4 kilometers from the town at about 11 a.m., in a trench, when he heard the first gunshots.
“I started to crawl into the trench to escape,” he said. “But it seemed that the attackers were following the trenches. So, I crawled out and came across the first bloodied victim. There was actually blood everywhere on my way. There was screaming everywhere. I got down on my stomach under a bush, until later in the afternoon, hiding.”
A screen grab from a video shared on social media on August 24, 2024, shows the bodies of people who were killed by jihadists as they were digging a trench to protect their town of Barsalogho, Burkina Faso.
Reuters
“There were few remaining men afterwards in the town. Seeing the bodies arrive on motorized carts from the massacre site was the most horrible thing I’d ever seen in my life. Neither women nor children had tears to shed. We were more than shocked. How can you cry if there are no tears to shed?”
