Singou massacre

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Singou massacre
Part of the Siege of Madjoari of the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso relief location map.jpg
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Singou massacre (Burkina Faso)
LocationSingou, Kompienga Province, Burkina Faso
Coordinates 11°28′41″N01°14′51″E / 11.47806°N 1.24750°E / 11.47806; 1.24750
Date25 May 2022
TargetMen fleeing Madjoari and Tabarga
Deaths50+
InjuredUnknown
PerpetratorsIslamic State flag.svg Ansarul Islam and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin
MotiveRevenge for a heavy death toll during an attack on the military base in Madjoari a week prior

On 25 May 2022, jihadists from Ansarul Islam or Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin attacked civilians fleeing the towns of Madjoari and Tabarga, Kompienga Province, Burkina Faso during the siege of Madjoari. The jihadists intercepted the refugees near the town of Singou, and separated the men from the women, elderly, and children. [1] Over fifty civilians were executed by the jihadists, and fifty more were alleged to be missing. [2] The massacre was the culmination of an offensive that began several weeks prior, with jihadists killing seventeen civilians in Madjoari on May 14 and overrunning the Burkinabe base in the town on May 19. [3] [4]

Contents

Background

Since February 2021, jihadists from Ansarul Islam and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin have besieged the town of Madjoari, the capital of the department of the same name, blocking food and supplies from entering. [1] The siege sparked a civilian exodus, and only 900 people remained in Madjoari at the time of the attack from the original 15,000. [1] In late May, the jihadist groups intensified their siege, killing seventeen civilians on May 14 and overrunning the military base in the town on May 19. 11 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in the attack on the base, and over seventy jihadists were killed. [2]

Attack

A resident of Madjoari told Le Monde that after the attack on the base, jihadists held a meeting in villages in the department they controlled, vowing revenge on the residents of Madjoari for the deaths of seventy of their comrades during the assault on the Burkinabe base. At that same time, Burkinabe forces began convoys to extract the remaining civilians from Madjoari. [1] [2] [5]

The massacre occurred on May 25, near the town of Singou. [1] A group of civilians fleeing Madjoari and the besieged town of Tabarga were intercepted by jihadists while en route to Nadiagou. [1] [6] A survivor stated that the jihadists separated the men from the women, elderly, and children, and began questioning the men. Men who didn't answer were shot on the road, and the rest were taken into the bush to be executed. [2] [6] The survivor stated that another fifty civilians are missing as well. [2] Only four people survived the massacre, reaching Nenougou. [6]

The amount of people killed in the massacre is unknown, as all men who fled Madjoari were killed, and the number of men who fled is unknown. [6] Wounded victims were evacuated to Diapaga for treatment. [6]

Reactions

The killing was condemned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose spokesman issued a statement expressing Guterres's condolences to the families of the victims and reaffirming the United Nations' commitment to aiding Burkina Faso in managing the country's security situation. [7]

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also condemned the killing and reaffirmed Egypt's "full solidarity" with Burkina Faso in its effort to combat the terrorist groups. [8]

The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara killed over a hundred civilians in the Seytenga massacre on June 11where they also besieged the city and assaulted the army base before killing civilians going door-to-door. [1]

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">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">Yirgou massacre</span> 2019 terrorist attack in Burkina Faso

On the night between December 31, 2018, and January 1, 2019, alleged Ansarul Islam jihadists attacked the village of Yirgou, in Barsalogho Department, Burkina Faso. While initial reports claimed the attack killed six people, including the village chief and his son, later reports and investigations showed up to 210 people were killed.

On January 10, 2019, Ansarul Islam militants killed 20 civilians in Gasseliki, Burkina Faso. The attack came in the wake of a massacre perpetrated by the Koglweogo in Yirgou, in Barsalogho department, just days earlier.

On September 26, 2022, a convoy bound for the besieged city of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso was attacked by armed gunmen, killing 27 soldiers and 10 civilians. The Mali-based jihadist group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Gaskinde attack was a key reason for the September 30 coup in Burkina Faso, as many frontline officers were disgruntled about Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba's handling of the jihadist insurgency.

On December 30, 2022, dozo militants affiliated with the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) killed over 88 civilians in Nouna, Burkina Faso.

On October 29, 2022, gunmen from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin ambushed a convoy of Burkinabé soldiers near the village of Kikideni while they were on their way from Fada N'gourma to Natiaboani, Est Region, 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 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 December 27, 2018, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin attacked Burkinabe soldiers in Loroni, northern Burkina Faso, killing ten soldiers. The attack was the deadliest incident for Burkinabe forces since the Nassoumbou attack in 2016.

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.

Between November 1 and 17, 2019, French and G5 Sahel troops conducted an operation against the jihadist groups of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, Ansarul Islam, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara in Boulikessi, Déou, and Boula along the Malian and Burkinabe borders.

On August 8, 2021, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin ambushed Burkinabe forces in Dounkoun, Toeni Department, Burkina Faso, killing twelve soldiers.

On August 18, 2021, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin ambushed a convoy of Burkinabe soldiers and civilians near Boukouma, Séno Province, Burkina Faso. The ambush sparked clashes between the jihadists and the soldiers, leaving dozens dead on both sides. At least 65 civilians were killed in the ambush as well.

On November 14, 2021, jihadists from Ansarul Islam and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin attacked the mining town of Inata, Burkina Faso, the last place in Djibo Department under Burkinabe government control at the time of the attack. The Burkinabe outpost in Inata was overrun and over fifty soldiers were killed. The attack was the deadliest ambush against Burkinabe forces since the start of the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso in 2015, and was a primary reason for the January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état.

On December 23, 2021, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and Ansarul Islam attacked Burkinabe forces in Titao, Loroum Province, Burkina Faso, killing 41 soldiers. The attack was one of the deadliest attacks against Burkinabe soldiers in the country's history, and occurred just over a month after an attack on Inata killed over fifty soldiers. News of the attack sparked protests across Burkina Faso.

Between January 16 and 23, 2022, French and Burkinabe forces conducted a counter-jihadist operation in and around the cities of Gorom-Gorom and Djibo, both in northern Burkina Faso. The operation was the last major one conducted between French forces and Burkinabe ones before the January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état, and several dozen jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and Ansarul Islam were killed or injured.

The siege of Madjoari began in February 2021 and lasted until May 25, 2022, as part of the jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso. Jihadists from Ansarul Islam and Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin began attacking the city, controlled by Burkinabe forces and the pro-government Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), and ambushed Burkinabe troops and cut off supply lines. Civilians in Madjoari starved, and almost all of them fled to elsewhere in Burkina Faso or to Benin. In May 2022, as the siege came to an end, the jihadists overran the Burkinabe military base and then massacred over fifty civilians fleeing in the May 2022 Madjoari massacre.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ""Death was slowly creeping on us"" (PDF). Amnesty International. July 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Au Burkina Faso, l'étau djihadiste se resserre autour de la junte" (in French). 3 June 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  3. ↑ "Armed assailants kill about 50 people in eastern Burkina Faso". Reuters. 26 May 2022. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Pauvarel, Camille (27 May 2022). "Attaque dans l'est du Burkina Faso : au moins 50 morts". euronews (in French). Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Une cinquantaine de civils tués dans l'est du Burkina". Voice of America (in French). 27 May 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Burkina Faso: des dizaines d'habitants de Madjoari tués par des hommes non identifiés". RFI (in French). 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  7. ↑ "Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Killing by Extremist Armed Groups in Burkina Faso | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "Egypt condemns deadly attack in Madjoari, voices support to Burkina Faso against terrorism". EgyptToday. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
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