At least 51 soldiers were killed Friday in an ambush by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, according to a new provisional report released Monday, February 20 by the army.
“
At the end of the day
” on Monday, “
43 new bodies were found, establishing the provisional toll at 51 fallen soldiers
,” the army said in a statement.
She had given a toll of eight soldiers killed on Monday morning.
“Intensification of air actions”
The army affirms that “
operations are continuing with an intensification of air actions which has made it possible to neutralize a hundred terrorists and destroy their equipment.
This figure is added to the sixty terrorists neutralized since the start of the response
.
“
While expressing its pain at the loss of our brothers in arms who died in combat
”, the army staff “
invites all of the National Armed Forces to maintain the mobilization which has enabled us to garner significant victories in recent weeks
,” the statement said.
The general staff also “
calls on the populations to the sacred union around the Defense and Security Forces in these difficult times.
It is together that we will defeat terrorism
”.
Read also: Undermined by jihadism, Burkina Faso threatens to collapse
A "
moving
" military patrol was the victim of a "
complex
" attack on Friday between Deou and Oursi (Oudalan province) in the Sahel region, bordering Mali and Niger, the army said on Saturday without then give an assessment.
She added that “
intense fighting
” had pitted the members of the military unit against “
an armed terrorist group
”.
Deadly raids attributed to jihadists have multiplied in recent weeks in Burkina.
More than 100 people - civilians and soldiers - have died in the past two, according to an AFP tally.
Burkina Faso, the scene of two military coups in 2022, has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of jihadist violence that appeared in Mali and Niger a few years earlier and which has spread beyond their borders.