OUAGADOUGOU – The Islamic State yesterday said it staged a midweek ambush that killed 14 soldiers in jihadist-hit Burkina Faso ahead of elections this month.
IS in the Greater Sahara said it carried out the raid, one of the worst on troops, in a message carried on its Amaq news outlet and social media.
The group said it killed 20 soldiers travelling in a convoy on Wednesday in Tin-Akoff in Oudalan province.
Rival organisation the Jihadist Group to Support Islam and Muslims on Friday claimed responsibility in social media posts.
A government spokesman on Thursday put the death toll at 14, while blaming “armed terrorist groups”.
The attack took place in the country’s north, near the border with Mali and Niger, and ahead of presidential and legislative elections on November 22.
The latest bout of violence has seen several candidates, including President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, suspending campaigning for two days.
The unrest will prevent residents of almost 1,500 villages out of some 8,000 in the country from taking part in the vote.
But in September, Parliament passed a law allowing the results to be validated even if polling does not take place everywhere.
The Burkinabe armed forces have suffered a spate of attacks.
In the worst, 24 soldiers died at a military base in Koutougou in the north in August last year.
The jihadists have been making incursions from neighbouring Mali since 2015 and killed at least 1,200 people, while forcing more than a million from their homes. – AFP, November 15, 2020
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