The Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a major jihadist alliance in the Sahel, linked to Al-Qaeda, demanded the release of around 60 prisoners during the attack on Monday against a military base in Djibo. , in northern Burkina Faso.
According to a press release authenticated and translated by Site, an American organization specializing in the surveillance of jihadist organizations, the GSIM claimed responsibility for the attack on this military base.
Blockade of jihadists
The group claims to have killed “
ten soldiers
” and “
liberated 67 prisoners
”.
More than 400 light weapons were also taken away by the jihadists, according to their press release.
Monday morning, the 14th combined arms regiment of Djibo was attacked by armed men.
Ten soldiers had been killed and around fifty injured according to the Burkinabè army, which had indicated that it had killed 18 "
terrorists
" in search operations.
Read alsoBarkhane jostled by the coup in Burkina Faso
The city of Djibo has been under a blockade for three months by jihadists who have cut off the main roads leading there by blowing up bridges.
According to the UN, the situation in this city in northern Burkina is alarming, with food becoming scarce and residents sometimes being forced to eat tree leaves and salt.
Second coup
On September 26, a supply convoy bound for Djibo was attacked by armed men.
The attack, again claimed by the GSIM, officially killed 37 people, including 27 soldiers.
This attack served as the catalyst for the September 30 coup, perpetrated by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, which overthrew Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
Read alsoIn Burkina Faso, the frenetic spiral of violence
It was the second coup in Burkina Faso in eight months, the putschists each time citing the deterioration of the security situation in this country, which has been plagued by jihadist violence for seven years.
Invested on October 21 as president of the transition by the Constitutional Council, Captain Traoré assured that their “
objectives are none other than the reconquest of the territory occupied by these hordes of terrorists
”.
