There are fears that Djibo, a city in Burkina Faso could witness a resurgence of violence after the release of scores of common prisoners by jihadists affiliated to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Unsurprisingly, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) claimed responsibility for the October 24 attack on a Burkinabe army base in Djibo.
The jihadist group claimed on Thursday October 27, in its weekly review to have killed more than ten soldiers and left “dozens wounded.”
The Army General Staff acknowledged losing 10 soldiers in the attack, saying that “elements of the 14th Inter-Arms Regiment (RIA) have valiantly fought back against the attackers who came in large numbers.”
According to the Burkinabe army, “18 bodies of terrorists were counted during the combing operations.”
The jihadist organisation has not communicated these losses, preferring to highlight the “liberation of 67 prisoners” whom it describes as “ordinary Muslims.”
An unauthenticated video, released on Thursday 27 October, shows men believed to be the prisoners released by the Burkinabe wing of the jihadist alliance born of the merger of four organisations close to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI).
The jihadists have been besieging the town of Djibo for several months, making it inaccessible by land.
Recently, supply convoys to assist inhabitants cut off from the rest of the country have been repeatedly ambushed by the insurgents, resulting in fatalities among security forces and civilians.
On September 26, a supply convoy bound for Djibo was ambushed by jihadists near the village of Gaskindé.
The army reported 37 dead, including 27 soldiers and 10 civilians in the attack, which precipitated the fall of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The former junta head was overthrown on Friday September 30 by Captain Ibrahim Traoré after eight months at the head of the transition following his January toppling of civilian president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.
AC/id/lb/as/APA