DAKAR (Reuters) -An attack on a Burkina Faso army base killed 200 soldiers, the SITE Intelligence Group quoted Al Qaeda affiliate JNIM as saying on Thursday.
The base in the northern town of Djibo came under attack on Sunday morning, and a police station and market were also targeted, security sources told Reuters.
Although there was no official toll, three Djibo residents told Reuters dozens of soldiers and civilians were killed.
U.S.-based SITE, which tracks online activity of Islamist militants, said Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) made the claim in a formal statement.
“The operation comes amid increased JNIM activity in Burkina Faso over the past month inflicting a high number of casualties,” SITE said.
The organisation previously said Ousmane Dicko, head of JNIM in Burkina, had appeared in a video urging residents of Djibo to leave the town for their own safety.
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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