2021 Markoye Department attacks

Last updated
2021 Markoye Department attacks
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
DateAugust 4, 2021
Location
Dambam, Guevara, Tokabangou, Badnoogo, Bassian, Gadba, Markoye Department, Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso
Result Indecisive
Belligerents

Flag of Burkina Faso.svg Burkina Faso

Islamic State flag.svg Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (suspected)
Casualties and losses
19 killed 10+ killed
11 civilians killed

On August 4, 2021, jihadists from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked several towns and Burkinabe bases in Markoye Department, Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso. Several rural villages were raided and civilians were killed, and the jihadist raids on Burkinabe bases in Tokabangou sparked battles that killed dozens of Burkinabe soldiers and ISGS fighters. The attacks were the deadliest day for the Burkinabe government since the Solhan and Tadaryat massacres in June 2021.

Contents

Background

Markoye Department is located in Oudalan Province, the northernmost part of Burkina Faso and on the borders of Niger and Mali. Since 2015, north and northeastern Burkina Faso has been embroiled in an insurgency by the Mali-based Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, the Niger-based Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, and the homegrown Burkinabe Ansarul Islam. In the neighboring Séno Province, eighteen people were killed in the Yattakou massacre in April 2021. [1] In February 2021, eight people were killed and nine were injured in an ambush on a civilian convoy between Markoye and Tokabangou. [2]

Attacks

The jihadists launched several attacks against villages in Markoye department at around noon on August 4, 2021. [3] The villages of Dambam, Guevara, and Tokabangou, all of which are located ten kilometers from the department capital of Markoye, were attacked, along with the villages of Badnoogo, Bassian, and Gadba. [4] [5] The attackers stole livestock and raided and torched homes. [5] [6]

Pro-government Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) militants based at the Burkinabe garrison in Markoye were dispatched to combat the attacks, but were ambushed near Tokabangou. [4] On August 5, the Burkinabe Ministry of Defense stated that the area that was attacked was under government control, and that government forces had launched a counteroffensive to find the perpetrators. [4] [7]

Aftermath

The Burkinabe Ministry of Defense stated that fifteen Burkinabe soldiers, four VDP militiamen, and eleven civilians were killed in the attacks throughout the department. [7] Burkinabe officials and RFI stated that at least ten jihadists were killed or injured during the attack. [7] [8] A fifth VDP militiamen was killed in a jihadist attack that same day in Pensa, Centre-Nord Region. [7] The attacks were the deadliest day for the Burkinabe government since the Solhan and Tadaryat massacres in June 2021. [8]

The Burkinabe Chief of Staff Moise Miningou visited Markoye on August 7 and spoke to the survivors. [9] The fallen soldiers were buried in the Dori Military Cemetery in Dori on August 8, with their funerals being attended by various high-ranking military officials. [10]

On November 1, 2021, ten civilians were killed in an attack between Dambam and Markoye by jihadists. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

On 16 December 2016, jihadists from Ansarul Islam and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked a Burkinabe army outpost in Nassoumbou, Soum Province, Burkina Faso, killing twelve soldiers. The attack was the first claimed by Ansarul Islam, Burkina Faso's first homegrown jihadist movement that formed a month prior.

On December 24, 2019, militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked the Burkinabe government military base in Arbinda, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso along with the town of Arbinda itself. The attack was halted due to French and Burkinabe air intervention, although 35 civilians were killed in the jihadists' massacre. The Arbinda attack was the deadliest incident in the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso in several years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solhan and Tadaryat massacres</span> Insurgent attacks in Burkina Faso

On 4 and 5 June 2021, insurgents attacked the Solhan and Tadaryat villages in the Yagha Province of Burkina Faso. The massacres left at least 174 people dead. Insurgents have been attacking the Sahel Region, along the border with Mali, since Islamists captured parts of Mali in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso</span> Ongoing insurgency in Burkina Faso (2015–present)

An ongoing war and civil conflict between the Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels began in August 2015 and has led to the displacement of over 2 million people and the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians and combatants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland</span> Armed group in Burkina Faso

The Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland is an armed self-defense group in Burkina Faso created to fight jihadist insurgents. It is an auxiliary force supporting the Burkina Faso Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamist insurgency in the Sahel</span> Insurgency throughout the Sahel and West Africa

An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.

On April 8, 2022, unknown jihadists ambushed a Burkinabe military base near the town of Namissiguima, in Sanmatenga Province, Burkina Faso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Boala attack</span>

On December 7, 2022, ten Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland militants, a Burkinabe civilian militia, were killed at a market in Boala Department, Centre-Nord Region, Burkina Faso. A second attack on December 10 killed seven civilians.

Events in the year 2024 in Burkina Faso.

On January 11, 2023, unknown jihadists killed nine civilians at a mosque in Goulgountou, Burkina Faso.

On January 28, 2023, suspected Islamic State jihadists attacked Burkinabe soldiers and Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) militiamen in the city of Falagountou, Burkina Faso.

On January 28, 2023, suspected Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin militants stopped two buses headed from Banfora to Mangodara near the village of Linguekoro, Comoé Province, Burkina Faso, and killed fifteen passengers.

On May 30, 2020, unknown militants ambushed an aid convoy escorted by Burkinabe gendarmes near the town of Barsalogho as it was returning from delivering food to civilians in Sanmatenga Province, Burkina Faso. Thirteen people were killed and forty others were wounded in the attack.

Lionel Joel I Wendkouni Bilgo is a Burkinabe economist, political analyst, and writer who served as the Minister of Education of Burkina Faso during the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration government.

Soldiers of the Burkina Faso Armed Forces were deployed in United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) between 2013 and 2023. During the mission, Burkinabe forces were the largest contributor to the mission, and often belonged to the best elements of the Burkinabe army.

Amadou Boucary, nom de guerre Djaffar Dicko and Yéro, is a Burkinabe jihadist who has served as the leader of Ansarul Islam since 2017.

On April 15, 2023, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin attacked a group of Burkinabe soldiers and civilian volunteers in the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) near Aorema, Yatenga Province, Burkina Faso, killing at least forty soldiers and VDP and injuring over thirty others. The attack occurred a month after a massacre against civilians by JNIM in Aorema that killed fourteen. Following the attack, Burkinabe soldiers searching for the perpetrators of the April attack killed over 130 civilians in the Karma massacre.

On October 12, 2016, jihadists from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked Burkinabe troops at Intangom, Tin-Akoff Department, Burkina Faso, killing four soldiers,

On August 19, 2019, jihadists from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked Burkinabe forces in Koutougou, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. 24 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in the attack, and Burkinabe authorities were forced to abandon military outposts in several northern Burkinabe towns following the attack. The attack was the deadliest jihadist attack in Burkinabe history up to that point.

References

  1. ↑ "18 people killed in north Burkina Faso attack". AP News. 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  2. ↑ "Une attaque fait 8 morts dans le Nord du Faso". Voice of America (in French). 2021-02-19. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  3. ↑ B24, Rédaction (2021-08-05). "Burkina Faso : Plus d'une dizaine de terroristes neutralisés dans l'Oudalan". Burkina24.com - Actualité du Burkina Faso 24h/24 (in French). Retrieved 2024-09-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 3 BAILY, Armel (2021-08-05). "Burkina Faso: Nouvelles attaques islamistes au Sahel : 30 morts". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  5. 1 2 "At least 30 killed in attacks across northern Burkina Faso". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  6. ↑ "Burkina Faso : une dizaine de civils et des militaires tués dans plusieurs attaques". France 24 (in French). 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  7. 1 2 3 4 INFOWAKAT (2021-08-05). "Infowakat - Sahel : au moins une dizaine de terroristes neutralisés à Markoye". Infowakat (in French). Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  8. 1 2 "Burkina: une dizaine de civils tués dans plusieurs attaques dans le nord". RFI (in French). 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  9. ↑ B24, Rédaction (2021-08-08). "Détachement de Markoye : Le Général Miningou félicite et encourage les « Boys »". Burkina24.com - Actualité du Burkina Faso 24h/24 (in French). Retrieved 2024-09-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ B24, Rédaction (2021-08-09). "Dori : Les militaires tombés à Markoye ont été inhumés". Burkina24.com - Actualité du Burkina Faso 24h/24 (in French). Retrieved 2024-09-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Burkina Faso: Jihadists continue to attack, kill and abduct civilians". www.opendoors.org. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  12. ↑ INFOWAKAT (2021-11-01). "Infowakat - Oudalan : au moins 10 forains tués par des individus armés". Infowakat (in French). Retrieved 2024-09-17.
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