The country has been shaken by the murder of more than 600 people in a few hours. This massacre has raised many questions. A report on Friday claimed that in the month of August, in the attack on Barsalogho city of Burkina Faso, members associated with Al-Qaeda killed about 600 people in a few hours. Residents of Barsalogho were shot on 24 August. They were digging trenches on the orders of the army.
Those who lost their lives in this attack mostly included women and children. This is the worst massacre in the history of the country. Such situations have arisen due to the ongoing jihadist insurgency between rebels affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
Members of Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-linked group based in Mali and active in Burkina Faso, shot villagers on the outskirts of Barsalogho. While the United Nations estimated the death toll at around 200, JNIM said it killed around 300 fighters. However, according to French government security assessments, more than 600 people were shot dead in the attack.
One man said he was one of dozens of people asked by the army to dig trenches. He told CNN that he was in a ditch 4 kilometers from the city at around 11 am. At that time he heard the first shot. He said, “I started crawling into the ditch to run away. But it seemed that the attackers were following the trenches. So I crawled out and saw several people covered in blood. There was blood everywhere on my path. There was screaming everywhere. I lay down on my stomach under a bush. Kept hiding till afternoon.”
A second survivor said that JNIM killed people throughout the day. He said, “For three days we kept collecting dead bodies. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere. Fear entered our hearts. At the time of burial, there were so many bodies lying on the ground that it was difficult to bury them.”
The army reportedly ordered locals to dig a huge ditch around the town to protect it from jihadists roaming nearby. JNIM has warned civilians against supporting the military in the fight against the insurgency.
