On 16 December 2016, jihadists from Ansarul Islam and the

Islamic State in the Greater Sahara Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

attacked a Burkinabe army outpost in Nassoumbou,

Soum Province Soum is one of the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso, located in its Sahel Region. Its capital is Djibo. Departments Soum is divided into 9 departments: See also *Regions of Burkina Faso *Provinces of Burkina Faso *Departments of Burkina Faso Th ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, killing twelve soldiers. The attack was the first claimed by Ansarul Islam, Burkina Faso's first homegrown jihadist movement that formed a month prior.

Background

Since 2015, northern Burkina Faso's

has served as a rear base for jihadist groups such as Katiba Macina and the

based in neighboring Mali and Niger. Burkinabe imam Ibrahim Malam Dicko had been fighting for years with Katiba Macina under the leadership of Amadou Koufa. Dicko opposed Koufa's idea of fomenting a jihadist insurrection, calling it too premature and disruptive to the fuel and supply pipelines to Malian jihadist groups that existed in Burkina Faso at the time. At the end of November 2016, Dicko changed his mind on an insurgency following the Burkinabe military's Operation Seguere, where Dicko had seen

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

farmers humiliated and searched by the Burkinabe military. Ansarul Islam was formed shortly afterward in the Foulsare forest on the Malian-Burkinabe border.

Attack

At about five in the morning on 16 December 2016, forty jihadists from Mali attacked the Burkinabe army military post in Nassoumbou. The soldiers attacked were part of the Anti-terrorist Armed Forces Group (GFAT), a mixed gendarmerie-army battalion of over 600 men who had been deployed to the Malian border in January 2013 at the end of

Operation Serval Operation Serval () was a French military operation in Mali. The aim of the operation was to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the center of Mali. Operation Serval followed the United Nations Security ...

. The Ansarul Islam jihadists were supported by a few men in Katiba Serma, a brigade affiliated with Katiba Macina. The

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

also stated that men from the

participated in the attack. The jihadists attacked in a pick-up truck and six motorcycles, divided into three groups each equipped with a rocket launcher and a Kalashnikov. Fighting lasted an hour and a half. Most of the Burkinabe soldiers fled at the onset of the attack; only about twenty fought back. A

Bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

armored vehicle and several other vehicles were destroyed. The jihadists seized the camp and stole two vehicles as well as weapons and equipment before returning to Malian territory.

Aftermath

Burkinabe President

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (; born 25 April 1957) is a Burkinabé banker and politician who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 2015 until he was deposed in 2022. He was the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso between 1994 and 1996 and Pre ...

and Security Minister Simon Compaoré stated that twelve soldiers were killed and four were injured in the attack. The high commissioner of Soum Province, Mohammed Dah, stated that black jihad flags had been waved by the perpetrators during the attack. The attack was claimed by Ansarul Islam on 26 December, officially announcing itself as a militant group. In their statement, Ansarul Islam claimed to have launched the assault with 28 fighters and claimed that two of their own fighters were killed and one injured, along with twenty Burkinabe soldiers killed and nine vehicles destroyed.

References

2016 mass shootings in Africa 2016 murders in Burkina Faso 21st-century mass murder in Burkina Faso Attacks on military installations in 2016 December 2016 crimes in Africa Islamic terrorism in Burkina Faso Islamic terrorist incidents in 2016 Mass murder in 2016 Mass shootings in Burkina Faso Soum Province Terrorist incidents attributed to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Terrorist incidents in Burkina Faso in 2016 Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso Battles involving Burkina Faso Battles involving Islamic State – Sahel Province Spillover of the Mali War {{terrorism-stub