200 Soldiers killed in Burkina Faso terror attack, JIMN says

According to a statement released by Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-affiliated group operating in West Africa, 200 soldiers have lost their lives in an attack on a military base in Burkina Faso. The SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based organisation that monitors Islamist militants’ online activity, reported the statement. Reports indicate that the attack was directed at a military base in the northern town of Djibo, which was destroyed by a significant number of fighters. The government of Burkina Faso did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters, the news agency which disseminated this information, has been unable to verify the report’s accuracy. The JNIM had previously claimed responsibility for the death of 60 soldiers in a separate attack in the northern Loroum province. Despite the absence of formal casualty reports or government statements regarding the attack, three residents of Djibo informed Reuters that dozens of soldiers and civilians had been killed. They also stated that Islamist militants had targeted a police station and a market. Conflict Armament Research, an organisation that monitors illicit arms flows, informed Reuters that Salafi jihadist groups in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger in the Sahel region have targeted military positions to steal weapons from regular forces and increase their armaments.