At least 600 people lost their lives in a horrific attack led by members affiliated with Al-Qaeda on the town of Barsalogho in Burkina Faso, a report claimed on Friday. The attack, which took place in August, targeted residents of Barsalogho, a town in the West African country. Barsalogho has been grappling with a jihadist insurgency waged by rebels affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group that has spilled over from neighboring Mali in 2015.
Members of Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda affiliate active in Mali and Burkina Faso, attacked villagers on the outskirts of Barsalogho, arriving on motorcycles.
The United Nations estimated around 200 deaths, while JNIM claimed to have killed nearly 300 "fighters." However, CNN, referencing a French government security assessment, reported that the death toll could be as high as 600.
A man, who said he was among those forced to dig trenches by the army, recounted hearing the first gunshots from about 4 kilometers away at around 11 AM.
“I started to crawl into the trench to escape. But it seemed that the attackers were following the trenches. So, I crawled out and came across the first bloodied victim. There was blood everywhere on my way. There was screaming everywhere. I got down on my stomach under a bush, until later in the afternoon, hiding,” he said.
Another survivor, who lost two members of her family in the attack, said JNIM killed people "all day long".
"For three days we were collecting bodies – scattered everywhere. Fear got into our hearts. At the burial time, there are so many bodies lying on the ground that burying was hard," she said.
The military reportedly instructed locals to dig a large trench network around the town to defend against nearby jihadists. JNIM has cautioned civilians against supporting the army in its fight against the insurgency.
According to the ACLED analysis group, which monitors global conflicts, affiliates of Al-Qaeda — founded by Osama bin Laden and responsible for the 9/11 attacks — and the Islamic State have killed approximately 3,800 people this year.
Since the conflict began in 2015, more than 20,000 individuals have been killed and over two million displaced in Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries located in the unstable Sahel region.
(With inputs from agency)