French Military Says ’Nearly 60 Terrorists’ Killed In Burkina Faso

By Staff, Agencies

Nearly 60 "terrorists" were killed in Burkina Faso by local forces assisted by French troops deployed in the country, France's military said on Sunday, as a bloody insurgency rages.

"On four occasions between January 16 and January 23, 2022, groups of terrorists were located, identified and neutralized by Burkinabe forces and by [foreign] units... in total nearly 60 terrorists were taken out," the French military said in a statement.

Burkina Faso has been struggling with terrorist attacks since 2015, when militants linked to Al-Qaeda and Daesh [Arabic for ‘ISIS/ISIL’ terrorist group] began mounting cross-border raids from Mali.

More than 2,000 people died, according to a toll compiled by AFP.

The national emergency aid agency said that 1.5 million people, nearly two-thirds of them children, were internally displaced as of November 30, 2021.

The country's security forces are poorly equipped to face a ruthless and highly mobile foe, adept at carrying out hit-and-run raids aboard motorbikes and pickup trucks.

On November 14, a force described as numbering several hundred men attacked a police base at Inata near the Malian border, killing 57 people, including 53 military police officers.

On December 23, 41 people were killed when a convoy of traders was ambushed near Ouahigouya, also near the Malian frontier.

Last week the West African bloc suspended Burkina Faso's membership following a coup and the detention of the prime minister several days earlier.