Yirgou massacre

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Yirgou massacre
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
Burned house in Yirgou 2019.jpg
Burned house in Yirgou
LocationYirgou, Barsalogho Department, Burkina Faso
other villages in Barsalogho department
DateDecember 31, 2018 - January 2, 2019 (initial attack)
January 2 - June 22 (reprisal attacks)
Deaths46 (per Burkinabe government)
210 (per CISC and locals)
216 (per US State Department)
PerpetratorKoglweogo

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.

Contents

After the attack, fighters from the civilian-based ethnic Mossi militia Koglweogo launched reprisal attacks in ethnic Fulani areas in Barsalogho department, killing dozens of civilians and further intensifying the Fula-Mossi conflict.

Prelude

Since 2015, northern Burkina Faso has been embroiled in a jihadist insurgency with three main jihadist groups - Ansarul Islam, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). [1] From 2015 to 2018, many attacks were low-level ambushes in the north, with larger attacks in the Burkinabe capital of Ouagadougou. [2] After the Loroni ambush on December 27, 2018, President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré launched a state of emergency. [2]

Massacre

The first attack began on the night of December 31, when unknown armed fighters only described as "terrorists" by the Burkinabe government attacked the town of Yirgou. [2] In the attack, the terrorists arrived in Yirgou on motorcycles, firing shots into the air before killing twelve people, including the village chief and his son. [3] [4] The attackers then retreated north, towards the province of Soum. [3]

The violence in Yirgou was quickly followed by reprisal attacks from members of the Koglweogo, a Mossi militia group. [5] The Koglweogo attacked Fulani herdsmen and villagers, accusing them of aiding the jihadists. [5] According to the Collective Against the Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities, a Burkinabe human rights organization, seventeen villages were attacked by the Koglweogo in the reprisal attacks. [4] Residents of Yirgou speaking to Voice of America claimed that the Koglweogo returned to Yirgou, and began burning the homes of Fulani civilians and then killing them. [6]

The reprisal killings began on January 2, and most towns were around the outside of Barsalogho city. [7] In the attacks, the Burkinabe government alleged 46 civilians were killed, although locals and the CISC claim that the real death toll is around 210–216. [4] [7] The attacks displaced dozens of thousands of civilians by April 2019, and most Burkinabe army attempts to mitigate the killings only ended up aiding the Koglweogo. [8] The first town affected by the reprisals was Koulpagre, where a man named Diallo Alaye was kidnapped and tortured by the Koglweogo on January 28. [9] The Koglweogo then killed 22 others in the town. [9] Biguel-Kassaye was affected secondly, with nineteen civilians killed and much of the town fleeing towards the capital of Barsalogho. [10] Other villages included Sagho and Guiendbila, where eighteen civilians were killed, Boundussi, where 13 were killed, Madou, where 7 were killed, Dakhan, where 17 were killed, Sago a second time, killing nine, Kougri Koulga, killing 19, Toekedogo, killing 19, Taate, killing fifteen, Boundossi again, killing five, Wiliwissou, killing 11, and Margou, Palal Sambo, and Talelgo, killing one each. [4] [9]

These reprisal attacks continued until June 22, 2019. [11]

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">Islamist 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.

On June 11, 2022, jihadists from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara attacked the town of Seytenga, Séno Province, Burkina Faso, killing over a hundred civilians in a massacre. The massacre occurred after Burkinabe forces evacuated the city following ISGS' takeover of the Burkinabe base in the town on June 9.

In early July 2022, two separate massacres occurred in Bourasso, Kossi Province and Namissiguima Department, Yatenga Province in Burkina Faso. The massacre in Bourasso killed 22 people, and the one in Namissiguima killed 12.

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 April 8, 2022, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin 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> Killings in Namentenga, Burkina Faso

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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 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 Singou massacre.

On May 21, 2022, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin attacked the city of Bourzanga, Burkina Faso, but the attack was repelled by Burkinabe and French forces.

The Tin-Ediar attack or Déou attack occurred on February 17, 2023 when Burkinabe soldiers were ambushed by the Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISGS) near the village of Tin-Ediar while travelling between Déou and Oursi, Burkina Faso. Over 70 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in the ambush, and Burkinabe authorities stated 160 ISGS fighters were killed.

On February 20, 2023, jihadists from the Islamic State – Sahil Province (ISGS) ambushed Burkinabe soldiers in Tin-Akoff, Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso. Between 15 and 100 Burkinabe soldiers were killed. The attack came just three days after the Tin-Ediar attack, where over seventy Burkinabe soldiers were killed in an ISGS attack.

References

  1. ↑ "Burkina Faso's war against militant Islamists". BBC News. 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  2. 1 2 3 "Burkina Faso : le bilan de l'attaque de Yirgou s'alourdit et passe de 13 à 46 morts – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  3. 1 2 "Burkina: représailles communautaires après les attaques de groupes armés". RFI (in French). 2019-01-03. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 LEPAYS, Editions (2019-02-04). "DRAME DE YIRGOU". Editions Le Pays (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  5. 1 2 "Burkina Faso: Witness testimony confirms armed group perpetrated mass killings". Amnesty International. 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  6. ↑ "Nouveau bilan d'au moins 48 morts dans les violences intercommunautaires". VOA (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  7. 1 2 "2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Burkina Faso". United States Department of State. 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Burkina Faso, part 1: Spreading violence triggers an 'unprecedented' crisis". The New Humanitarian. 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  9. 1 2 3 Morin (2019-02-01). "Yirgou: C'est donc plus de 200 morts!". Wakat Séra (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  10. ↑ rtb.bf (2019-01-16). "Région du Centre-Nord: Le bilan humain de l'attaque terroriste et des violences communautaires meurtrières connu dans sa répartition géographique (communiqué)". Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  11. ↑ "Burkina Faso: Witness testimony confirms armed group perpetrated mass killings". Amnesty International. 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-28.

13°51′11″N0°59′13″W / 13.85306°N 0.98694°W / 13.85306; -0.98694

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