According to SITE Intelligence Group, a militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for a brutal attack that left over 100 soldiers dead in Burkina Faso.
The assault occurred last Tuesday near the border with Niger.
The group, known as Nusrat al-Islam, released a statement on Sunday detailing the attack.
They reported that their fighters stormed a military base in the town, resulting in the deaths of 107 soldiers. The group has maintained control of the site for the past five days.
Videos circulated online by the militant group depict intense gunfire around the military base.
Another video shows a display of dozens of weapons and ammunition, along with at least seven Burkinabe soldiers captured by the extremists.
Al-Qaeda’s attack marks one of the deadliest assaults on Burkina Faso’s military.
The country, along with Niger and Mali, has been struggling to contain insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Over the past decade, this insurgency has led to the deaths of thousands and the displacement of more than two million people in Burkina Faso.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow will increase the number of its military instructors in Burkina Faso.
“Russian instructors work here and their number will increase,” Lavrov said at a news conference in the capital, Ouagadougou. “At the same time, we are training representatives of the armed forces and security forces of Burkina Faso in Russia.”
Moscow has sought to boost its influence across the African continent since relations with Western countries plummeted over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
