A West African al Qaeda affiliate, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed to have killed 200 soldiers in an attack on an army base in Burkina Faso’s northern town of Djibo.
The group had initially claimed to have killed 60 soldiers, but later increased the death toll in a formal statement.
The attack, which occurred on Sunday, saw hundreds of fighters overrun and destroy the base, with satellite footage showing burn marks and smoke over the military base, prison, hospital, and market.
The Burkinabe government has not commented on the attack or the death toll claim.
JNIM has been ramping up attacks in Burkina Faso, where a military junta has struggled to turn the tide against Islamist insurgents.
