Suspected jihadist raid in northern Burkina Faso leaves seven Ghanaians among civilian dead

At least 10 civilians, including seven citizens of Ghana, were killed during a weekend attack by suspected jihadists on a key town in northern Burkina Faso, according to officials and local residents.

The assault, which occurred on Saturday in Titao—the capital of Louroum province—adds to a deadly sequence of attacks across the country. With this incident, the number of people believed to have died in jihadist violence between Thursday and Sunday has risen to at least 20, based on accounts from security and local sources.

Although the Burkinabe military later said it repelled the attack, residents reported significant civilian casualties after assailants stormed the town and targeted a military detachment stationed in the strategically located city.

A local resident, who spoke to AFP on Monday, said, “there were about 10 deaths among the civilian population”.

The source added that the victims included traders and transport workers who had gathered for market activities. “Traders and truck drivers who had come to the market were killed,” the resident said, noting further that “several shops and trucks were set on fire”.

Confirming the nationality of several victims, Ghana’s Interior Minister told Joy FM radio on Monday that seven Ghanaian tomato sellers lost their lives during the attack. He added that their bodies had been burnt beyond recognition.

For more than a decade, Burkina Faso has grappled with sustained violence linked to militant groups aligned with either the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda, particularly across vast stretches of its arid northern and eastern regions. Despite the military’s seizure of power in a 2022 coup—justified by promises to restore security within months—the country continues to face escalating insecurity.

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The Burkinabe army, which rarely comments publicly on such incidents, addressed the attack during a late Sunday broadcast on national television, claiming its forces successfully repelled a jihadist offensive on Titao.

Speaking in an interview, army spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Abdoul Aziz Ouedraogo said the attackers deliberately torched the market to stage media messaging, alleging that the jihadists set it ablaze to make “propaganda” videos.

However, on Monday, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda-linked militant organisation, claimed responsibility for the raid on Titao. The group said it had killed “dozens of Burkinabe soldiers” during the assault.

JNIM also claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks on army positions in Nare, Tandjari, Bilanga and Ouahigouya between Thursday and Sunday, asserting that at least 19 soldiers were killed in those operations.

According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), Burkina Faso’s protracted jihadist conflict has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers since 2015, with more than half of those deaths recorded within the last three years.

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