According to the army, at least 51 soldiers were killed when their unit was ambushed in northern Burkina Faso on Friday, one of the highest reported death tolls from a single attack since the area became a hotbed of jihadist activity.
The incident occurred two days before France officially ended its military operations in the West African country, where 400 French special forces were sent in 2015 to help fight an insurgency that had spread from neighboring Mali.
The soldiers were ambushed in Oudalan province, in Burkina Faso’s Sahel region, which shares a border with Mali.
The provisional death toll was raised from eight to 43 after an additional 43 bodies were discovered, according to the army.
It did not directly blame anyone for the attack but said a counter-offensive air strike killed around 160 “terrorists,” up from about 60 in the previous statement.
Burkina Faso is one of several West African countries dealing with a jihadist insurgency that began in Mali in 2012 following a Tuareg rebellion.
Despite costly international military interventions and United Nations peacekeeping efforts, violence has spread to neighboring countries and beyond. Thousands of people have been killed and millions have been displaced in the Sahel region south of the Sahara.
Frustrations over insecurity prompted two coups in Mali and two in Burkina Faso since 2020, putting power in the hands of juntas that have burned bridges with traditional Western allies.
France’s relations with Burkina Faso have sharply deteriorated over the past year, culminating with Ouagadougou giving its former colonizer one month to withdraw troops in January.
Last year, France withdrew its forces from Mali after the junta there began working with Russian military contractors. Since then, several other countries have followed suit.
According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the withdrawals have raised concerns about the future of a conflict in which the number of Islamist attacks has more than doubled since 2020.
Medecins Sans Frontières suspended operations in Burkina Faso last week to conduct a risk assessment following the killing of two of its employees on February 8.
