Burkina Faso: 11 killed in jihadist attack

A jihadist attack killed at least 11 police officers in the Gourma province of Burkina Faso’s Eastern Region, as reported by Africa News via AFP on January 22nd.

According to security sources, “several hundred jihadists” attacked a police detachment in Balga, with seven officers dying at the scene and four others later succumbing to their injuries.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred between January 17th and 18th.

Burkina Faso has struggled to contain the threat posed by jihadist insurgents in recent years, despite the military junta government, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, vowing to restore stability amid the growing violence upon its establishment in September 2022.

However, the threat of jihadist insurgents is not limited to Burkina Faso, as the Sahel region has increasingly become a global centre of Islamist terrorism, reportedly accounting for over half of all terrorism-related deaths worldwide.

In July 2025, JNIM carried out an attack on a military base in the northern province of Dargo, which killed 50 soldiers. In the assault, around 100 armed individuals stormed the base, killing troops and looting before setting fire to the base.

Under the guise of countering jihadist insurgents and coups that seek to destabilise national security, the Burkinabe junta has become increasingly authoritarian in its restrictions on perceived opposition voices.

The Burkinabe military has been accused of using a mix of special forces and pro-government militias to carry out mass killings of civilians, which authorities justify by claiming the people had ties to Islamist insurgent groups.

Furthermore, the junta has failed to hold elections within two years of its establishment, in violation of an agreement with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); as a result, military rule has continued and become further entrenched.

In January 2025, Burkina Faso withdrew from ECOWAS, alongside neighbouring junta-led Mali and Niger. The three states became the founding members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a cooperation pact designed to counter jihadist insurgencies through shared intelligence and military resources.

Since 2015, over 2,000 people have been killed by jihadist violence in Burkina Faso; despite the junta vowing to fight the growing extremist threat, analysts believe the violence has escalated since the 2022 coup.

Africa News via AFP, Maghrebi.org