On September 5, 2022, a bus travelling from

Djibo Djibo is a town in northern Burkina Faso and the capital city of Soum Province. It is situated north of Ouagadougou and from the border with Mali. It was founded in the 16th century and became the capital of Djilgodji, before becoming dominate ...

to the Burkinabe capital of

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

hit a mine outside the town of Silgadji, killing 35 people and injured dozens more.

Prelude

Since 2015, northern Burkina Faso has been the hotbed of a jihadist insurgency, with much of the countryside being controlled by Islamist militants like

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 ...

. Throughout the years of fighting, key roads linking major cities have been mined by both the Burkinabe military and the jihadist groups, posing a major threat to civilians. The road between

and

has especially been a target of mining since early 2022, when jihadists from

Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (, JNIM; , GSIM; ) is a Salafi jihadism, Salafi Jihadist organisation in the Maghreb and West Africa formed by the merger of Ansar Dine, Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), al-Mourabitoun and the Saharan branc ...

began a campaign to besiege the city. In August, a bombing and ambush on the road led to the death of 15 Burkinabe soldiers.

Bombing

On September 5, the Burkinabe government launched a supply convoy to relieve civilians and soldiers at the ongoing

siege of Djibo The siege of Djibo is an ongoing blockade of the city of Djibo in Burkina Faso by several factions of Jihadist Islamist rebels. The siege began in February 2022, and is part of the Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso. Djibo is located in Burkin ...

. One of the vehicles in the convoy, according to

Sahel Region Sahel (, "Sahel") is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001. The region's capital is Dori. Four provinces make up the region— Oudalan, Séno, Soum, and Yagha. This region is the northernmost part of ...

governor Rodolphe Sorgho, was carrying civilians at the time of the bombing. The convoy was bombed in between Djibo and the town of Bourzanga, in particular near the town of Silgadji. An anonymous resident of Silgadji speaking to AFP claimed many of the civilians were merchants looking to buy supplies and students returning to Ouagadougou for school. After the attack, the Burkinabe government claimed to have secured the area around the road.

References

{{coord missing, Burkina Faso Improvised explosive device bombings in 2022 Improvised explosive device bombings in Burkina Faso 2022 murders in Burkina Faso Islamic terrorism in Burkina Faso Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso Terrorist incidents in Burkina Faso in 2022 Mass murder in 2022 September 2022 crimes in Africa Bus bombings in Africa 21st-century mass murder in Burkina Faso 2022 road incidents in Africa Bus incidents in Burkina Faso