At least 22 soldiers and civilian auxiliaries were killed in new attacks attributed to jihadists over the weekend in northern Burkina Faso. These incidents underscore the persistent challenges to Faso security news.

Burkina Faso, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s military junta since the September 2022 coup, has faced a decade of brutal assaults from jihadist factions linked to Al-Qaïda and the Islamic State, affecting vast areas of its territory.

On Saturday morning, a base belonging to a Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) in Di, near Dédougou, came under attack by jihadists. Despite a valiant defense, fourteen soldiers and seven VDP members, civilian auxiliaries who play a critical role in the anti-jihadist fight and often suffer heavy losses, were killed.

Another assault targeted the Solhan detachment in the northeast, leading to several fatalities, including an officer. A large-scale response operation was immediately launched.

Further confirming these two attacks, reports indicate significant human and material losses. Additionally, on Sunday, a military post in Séguénéga, close to Kaya in the central-north, was also targeted.

A coordinated response and pursuit operation, initiated on Saturday, successfully neutralized dozens of terrorists and recovered various military equipment and logistical resources.

Solhan has a somber history, having been the site of one of the country’s most devastating attacks in June 2021, which claimed between 130 and 160 civilian lives.

On Monday, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaïda affiliate, claimed responsibility for several attacks against Burkinabè army positions in multiple towns, asserting the death of numerous Burkinabè soldiers.

Diplomatic Rupture and Security Responses

The authoritarian and sovereignist military regime has not publicly disclosed the number of soldiers killed in attacks for several years. It occasionally releases figures on its counter-offensives, which remain difficult to independently verify. Last week, the Burkinabè General Staff announced in a communiqué that over 400 terrorists were killed following complex and coordinated attacks against positions in Gayéri (Sirba region), Solhan, and Sebba (Liptako region).

These attacks were linked by the regime to the unilateral diplomatic rupture with France, announced in late June. Ouagadougou accused France of