The Burkina Faso government has said that after armed fighters ambushed a 150-vehicle military-escorted convoy carrying supplies to a northern town, at least 11 soldiers have been killed and 50 civilians are missing.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the government said that the attack on the convoy occurred on Monday in the community of Gaskinde in the province of Soum, where since 2015, armed organisations affiliated with al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) have intensified operations and taken over the territory.
Since Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba overthrew Burkina Faso’s elected president in a coup in January and vowed to control the country’s armed groups, violence has erupted throughout the West African nation.
Fighters connected to al-Qaeda and ISIL have fueled the turmoil, as they do in neighbouring nations, even after Damiba replaced his defense minister earlier this month.
Armed factions have ambushed many villages in the northern Soum province, so government convoys and airdrops have brought crucial supplies to stranded people. The most recent assault on army-escorted resupply convoys occurred on Monday.
Lionel Bilgo, spokesperson for the government, described the attack “cowardly and barbaric”. “The provisional toll is that 11 bodies of soldiers have been found,” he said. “About 50 civilians are missing and searches are ongoing.”
In a video that was circulated online, you could see people scurrying to get items out of at least a dozen burning vehicles while a plume of smoke covered the environment. In a another video, people greeted the convoy as they emerged in the town of Djibo after they had escaped the attack.