A West African terrorist group called Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) claims it killed 200 soldiers when it attacked an army base in Burkina Faso on Sunday.
JNIM previously claimed 60 Burkinabe troops were killed in the attack but, on Thursday, it released a statement that upped the body count to 200. The government of Burkina Faso has not released an official casualty count, although military officials did accuse JNIM of overstating the number of deaths by a wide margin. Local eyewitnesses reported seeing dozens of civilian and military corpses lining the streets after the attack.
Hundreds of militants swarmed the town of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso on Sunday, attacking its military base, police station, and marketplace. Al Jazeera News said there was fighting in Djibo for several days, and it ended with the military base “razed to the ground.”
“This is one of the deadliest attacks in Burkina Faso, and it comes just as Ibrahim Traore has been saying that the country has been gaining territory, encouraging people to go back to their homes, but this latest attack proves the opposite,” said Al Jazeera reporter Nicolas Haque.
“What we’re seeing here is the pivot point where these armed groups that normally attack villages are now trying to take over towns. It’s a major blow for Burkina Faso’s armed forces,” Haque said.
Ibrahim Traore is the leader of the junta that overthrew the government of Burkina Faso in October 2022. That government was, itself, a junta that had seized power in January 2022.
One of the major divisions within the Burkinabe military was whether they should preserve their traditional counter-terrorism alliance with former colonial power France, or look to Russia for protection. The pro-Russia faction won, and France was asked to withdraw the last of its forces in January 2023.
Russian state media rushed to protect Traore from embarrassment over the hundreds of civilian and military deaths inflicted by jihadi groups.
Traore is currently in Moscow, having been invited to attend Russia’s “Victory Day” celebration of defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. Russian media breezed past the deadly news from Djibo to portray Traore as an exciting young African leader with an important message of “pan-Africanism” and “self-reliance and independence from the West.”
“His message has resonated across Africa and beyond, with his admirers seeing him as following in the footsteps of African heroes like Burkina Faso’s very own Thomas Sankara — a Marxist revolutionary who is sometimes referred to as ‘Africa’s Che Guevara,’” the BBC reported this week.
“Traore’s impact is huge. I have even heard politicians and authors in countries like Kenya say: ‘This is it. He is the man,’” gushed Control Risks senior researcher Beverly Ochieng.
“His messages reflect the age we are living in, when many Africans are questioning the relationship with the West, and why there is still so much poverty in such a resource-rich continent,” Ochieng explained.
Traore maintains his popularity with a combination of Marxist-populist theft, personality cult theatrics — his regime is fond of flooding social media with deepfake videos of black American pop stars singing about his glorious accomplishments — and beating anyone who criticizes him. Human rights groups have excoriated the Burkinabe junta for imprisoning dissidents, forcing critics into exile, and using extreme violence to crush protests.
Traore’s rough tactics have not helped to suppress the jihadi insurgents that have spread from Burkina Faso into neighboring Benin, even though defeating these militants was one of the biggest promises he made when he seized power.
JNIM is a Salafist-Islamist alliance of terrorist groups formed in 2017 and allied with al Qaeda. It has also collaborated with the regional franchise of ISIS, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).
JNIM preys on economic insecurity to recruit fighters, and finances its activities with kidnapping, drug trafficking, gun smuggling, and extortion. The name of the organization translates to: “Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims.”
The attack on Djibo was the biggest attack yet for JNIM, which has grown increasingly aggressive and bloodthirsty. Reports cited by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on Thursday indicated the jihadis took control of the town for most of a day, and were able to drive off a Burkinabe military jet that was sent to attack their positions. The junta has access to drones, but for unknown reasons did not deploy them in Djibo.
“Since the start of 2025, Burkina Faso has seen daily assaults by JNIM, leading to record losses of life and military equipment,” ICG said, dismissing claims from “regime-aligned activists” that the military routed JNIM in the battle of Djibo.
