More than 100 killed in jihadi attack in northern Burkina Faso
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — An attack by a jihadi group in northern Burkina Faso killed more than 100 people, mostly soldiers, an aid worker and local residents said Monday.
The attack on several locations, including a military base and the long besieged strategic town of Djibo, occurred early Sunday, said an aid worker actively involved in dialogues in Burkina Faso's hard-hit communities. A student from the area said her father was among those killed.
Both individuals spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisals.
A jihadi group aligned with Al-Qaida known as Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin or JNIM, which is active in the Sahel region, claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack.
Run by a military junta, the landlocked nation of 23 million has been among the worst hit by the security crisis in Africa's Sahel region, known as the global hot spot for violent extremism. About half of Burkina Faso is outside of government control as a result of the violence that contributed to two coups in 2022. Government security forces have also been accused of extrajudicial killings.
The aid worker, as well as Charlie Werb, an independent open-source analyst focusing on the Sahel, recounted how Sunday's attack began simultaneously in different locations at 6 a.m local time on Sunday.
'JNIM fighters attacked eight localities simultaneously to disperse the Burkina Faso air force. The main attack occurred in Djibo, where JNIM fighters first took control of all the town's entry checkpoints before attacking the military camps, particularly the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit's camp,' said the aid worker.
Werb, who studied videos posted online, said the attackers spent several hours in the areas without air support from Burkina Faso's military, unlike similar attacks on Djibo in the past, when security forces have successfully repelled the extremists.
The latest attack shows JNIM's escalating power and widening reach in Burkina Faso, said Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank. 'The fact that Djibo was targeted confirms the extent of JNIM's freedom of movement within Burkina Faso.'
Analysts have warned that the junta's strategy of military escalation, including the mass recruitment of civilians into poorly trained militias, has worsened inter-ethnic tensions.
____
McMakin reported from Dakar, Senegal
____
Follow AP's Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Baba Ahmed And Wilson Mcmakin, The Associated Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
9 hours ago
- CTV News
Uganda's president seeks a seventh term that would bring him closer to 5 decades in power
KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday sought nomination for a seventh term, a move that would bring him closer to five decades in power. Museveni, 80, has defied calls for his retirement, as critics warn that he as veered into authoritarianism with virtually no opposition even within his ruling National Resistance Movement party. He was welcomed by a large crowd of supporters as he went to collect nomination papers from the offices of the ruling party in Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Museveni first took power as head of a rebel force in 1986. He has since been elected six times, though recent elections have been marred by violence and allegations of vote rigging. His main opponent in the last election was the popular entertainer known as Bobi Wine, who has also declared his candidacy in the polls set for January 2026. Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has seen many associates jailed or go into hiding as security forces cracked down on opposition supporters. Museveni has dismissed Wine as 'an agent of foreign interests' who cannot be trusted with power. Wine has been arrested many times on various charges but has never been convicted. He insists he is running a nonviolent campaign. Decades ago, Museveni himself had criticized African leaders who overstayed their welcome in office. In Uganda, lawmakers did the same thing for him when they jettisoned the last constitutional obstacle — age limits — for a possible life presidency. His son, army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has asserted his wish to succeed his father, raising fears of hereditary rule. A long-time opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, has been jailed since November over alleged treason charges his lawyers say are politically motivated. Besigye, a physician who retired from Uganda's military at the rank of colonel, is a former president of the Forum for Democratic Change party, for many years Uganda's most prominent opposition group. The East African country has never seen a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Britain in 1962. By Rodney Muhumuza.
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Family clans try to secure aid convoys in Gaza from criminal lootings
Social Sharing As food and aid distribution in Gaza continues to be plagued with violence and death, influential clans and tribes that have long existed in the territory are trying to secure aid convoys entering the region. The National Gathering of Palestinian Clans and Tribes, which helped escort a rare shipment of flour in northern Gaza Wednesday, said they have begun their efforts together to guard aid convoys and prevent lootings. Aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip have been limited, leading to scenes of chaos as vulnerable civilians are largely left out when armed gunmen and Israeli forces cause ensuing violence. Alaa El-Din Al-Aklouk, one of the Mukhtars – community leaders elected by large families who make up the clans – announced the plan with other leaders on Wednesday. "The clans came together to send a message of safety and security to the Palestinian people," he told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife. "[The clans] will put in every effort to deliver aid to those who deserve it … without any violence or abuse from others." Since May 27, Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 549 people have been killed and more than 4,000 have been wounded near the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites or as they waited for UN food trucks to enter. It is unclear how many of those killed or injured were shot by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as criminal gangs were also reported to be present, according to witnesses who spoke to CBC News. GHF has rejected accusations that its aid distribution centres are dangerous, saying it delivered aid in a "secure, controlled, accountable manner — eliminating the risk of diversion." War crimes investigation The latest efforts to secure aid come as Israel's Military Advocate General ordered an investigation Friday into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli soldiers were ordered by the army to deliberately fire at Palestinians attempting to reach aid distribution sites, according to an exclusive report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Haaretz said that officers and soldiers, who were unnamed, revealed that commanders "ordered troops to shoot at crowds to drive them away or disperse them, even though it was clear they posed no threat." In a statement to CBC News on Friday, an IDF spokesperson said the army rejects the accusation made by Haaretz, saying it does not instruct soldiers to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution sites. "In light of recent reports of incidents of harm to the civilians approaching the distribution centers, the incidents are being examined by the relevant IDF authorities," it said. The Israeli prime minister, meanwhile, denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday. "IDF soldiers receive clear orders to avoid harming innocent civilians — and they act accordingly," Benjamin Netanyahu said. Clan members armed with guns, sticks With the police infrastructure in Gaza crumbling in the midst of the war, clan members have taken up arms to secure aid trucks and ensure they get to non-governmental organizations (NGO) barracks safely and, eventually, to the people. As trucks entered through the Zikim area in western Gaza City Wednesday, armed and masked men from the clans lined the road – some with guns and others with sticks. They controlled the crowd and fired warning shots when someone got too close to the trucks. "The securing of the aid will be done by the men of our clans," Al-Aklouk said. "The clans took on the responsibility … so that it is delivered to every Palestinian household." There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. After a two-month ceasefire broke down in March, Israel blockaded aid supplies into Gaza for 11 weeks, prompting a famine warning from a global hunger monitor. Israel, which has only partially lifted the blockade since, vets all aid into Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing some of it, something the militant group denies. Community leaders decry theft of aid Yazdan Al-Amawi, Gaza branch manager of Anera, an NGO that also operates in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan, said it securely received more than 20 pallets of aid in its first shipment Wednesday after more than 110 days, with the help of the clans. "It's been almost at the brink of famine [in Gaza]," Al-Amawi told CBC News. "We are so happy that the women and children and elderly will get rations out of those commodities soon." WATCH | Mounting deaths reported near GHF aid sites over past month: 'We saw death': Palestinians describe violence near GHF aid sites on Monday 11 days ago Duration 1:10 At least 20 people were killed and 200 others wounded in Israeli fire near an aid distribution site in Rafah on Monday, according to medics. The deaths are the latest in mass shootings that have killed at least 300 Palestinians in the past several weeks, Gaza's Health Ministry says, as they try to access food through the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's distribution system. Abu Salman Al-Mughni, another Mukhtar, said the theft of the aid was done by "bad apples" in the area who are not considered part of the community. He blamed businessmen for the thefts who then raised prices of goods in local markets. "The rights of the people are being stolen and sold in this manner," he said. "And this is something we will not accept nor will we tolerate." "We will no longer allow thieves to steal from the convoys for the merchants and force us to buy them for high prices," another man involved in the tribal effort, Abu Ahmad al-Gharbawi, told The Associated Press. Israel accuses Hamas of aid theft, halts distribution On Thursday, Israeli officials said that it would stop aid from entering northern Gaza for two days after a video circulated Wednesday showing dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks – video of the clan members offering security. But Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, accused Hamas of stealing aid, saying that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. The National Gathering of Palestinian Clans and Tribes responded saying no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process. And Hamas denied any involvement. An Israeli strike hit a street in the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah on Thursday where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. The strike appeared to target members of Sahm, a security unit tasked with stopping looters and cracking down on merchants who sell stolen aid at high prices. The unit is part of Gaza's Hamas-led Interior Ministry, but includes members of other factions. There was no comment from the Israeli military on the Thursday strike. Video of the aftermath showed bodies of multiple young men in the street with blood splattering on the pavement and walls of buildings. The dead included a child and at least seven Sahm members, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where casualties were taken. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct.7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent air and ground war in Gaza has killed around 56,331 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, more than half of them women and children.
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Samurai sword murderer gets life in prison for a rampage that killed a U.K. schoolboy last year
Warning: This story contains graphic details LONDON — A man armed with a samurai sword who murdered a U.K. boy on his way to school during a rampage that seriously injured five other people was sentenced Friday to life in prison. Marcus Arduini Monzo was condemned as 'wicked' by Daniel Anjorin's father, who described the agony of finding his 14-year-old son crumpled in a pool of blood outside their London home shortly after he'd left for school on April 30, 2024. 'It has been the worst nightmare experience of our lives,' Dr. Ebenezer Anjorin said during the sentencing in the Central Criminal Court. 'To have to go through the pain of losing a child in such a cruel and savage way. No family should have to go through this.' Monzo, 37, was convicted Wednesday of Anjorin's murder, along with three counts of attempted murder and one count each of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possessing a bladed article. Justice Joel Bennathan set the scene of the crime on the streets of east London, where he said people had just set out for work and children were headed to school, when Monzo plowed his van into a pedestrian and unleashed a 20-minute frenzied attack that came to an end only after police used a stun gun to immobilize him. 'That peaceful, busy scene was devastated as members of the public were attacked, police officers were gravely injured, a couple were terrified in their own home, and a clever, talented, much-loved young boy was killed by a savage blow with a sword,' Bennathan said. 'You, Marcos Arduini Monzo, did all of that.' Prosecutors said that drug use triggered the psychotic episode that turned violent when Monzo killed his cat, Wizard, after voices in his head told him the pet was sapping his energy and he needed to kill and eat it. Before he could do that, though, he said he was overcome by feeling that Armageddon was imminent and he left his home in his van for his parent's house. On the way, he rammed his car into security guard Donato Iwule, who he attacked with the sword and said he was going to kill him. He slashed the man's neck, but Iwule was able to get away. Monzo then ambushed Anjorin, who was wearing headphones, and didn't hear a neighbour warning him of the swordsman. 'We were shouting and waving towards Daniel as he came out,' Aiste Dabasinskaite said after the attack. 'It just happened right before our eyes, it was horrible.' Monzo nearly beheaded the teen with the 2-foot (60-centimetre) blade and stabbed him as he lay on the ground. When police officers arrived and tried to help the boy, Monzo sprang from bushes nearby and bolted. Constable Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield gave chase and suffered what police said were 'brutal and life-changing' injuries including a fractured skull and severe nerve damage when he lunged at her. Monzo then broke into a nearby home, where he awoke a couple who had been sleeping with their 4-year-old daughter. He shouted about believing in God and attacked the girl's father, wounding his neck and arm. In his final act of violence, he struck police Inspector Moloy Campbell once with the sword before he was subdued with a stun gun and arrested. Jurors determined Monzo was responsible for his actions after prosecutors argued that the attack was caused by his cannabis use, rather than an underlying mental health condition. Monzo, who has dual Spanish and Brazilian citizenship, said that an injury from mixed martial arts had led him on a spiritual quest and he consumed ayahuasca, a hallucinogen, and frequently smoked marijuana. Prosecutors said Monzo had an interest in violence, far-right extremism and conspiracy theories. He had shared vaccine misinformation and liked social media posts on X praising Adolf Hitler. Monzo told jurors he believed that the Earth was flat and that the 9/11 attack was 'probably' a conspiracy. He also spoke about his practice of drinking his own urine. Brian Melley, The Associated Press
