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35 killed and 37 injured in IED ambush on a supply convoy in Burkina Faso, 5 Sept.

Pays
Burkina Faso
Sources
AOAV
Date de publication
Origine
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At least 35 civilians were killed and 37 injured when an IED detonated on an escorted supply convoy heading to Ouagadougou. The attack took place between Djibo and Bourzanga, in Soum province. Several dozen vehicles carrying civilians, drivers, and traders were struck in the blast.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it took place in the jihadist-dominated north, in the midst of Burkina Faso's ongoing seven-year struggle against a jihadist insurgency.

Jihadist groups have recently staged similar attacks on arterial roads leading to the main cities in the north. AOAV has recorded three other incidents of IED ambushes on vehicles in northern Burkina Faso in 2022:

  • On 1 July 2022, four civilians were killed when a tricycle hit an IED while they were travelling from Djibo to Ouagadougou.
  • On 9 August 2022, 15 Burkinabe soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack on their military convoy along the Bourzanga-Djibo highway, in Namsiguia. A second IED went off targeting medical responders who arrived at the scene.
  • On 12 August 2022, two soldiers were killed and one injured when their vehicle hit an IED in the Sahel, between Dori and Sebba.

Since 2017, AOAV has recorded 43 incidents of explosive weapon use in Burkina Faso, and 255 civilian casualties (139 killed, 116 injured). At least eight of the civilian casualties are children, and seven are women.

State actors are the reported perpetrators in the case of 15% of civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Burkina Faso since 2017, and non-state actors of 85%. Katiba Macina are the reported perpetrators in the case of 14% of civilian casualties, while unknown non-state actors are the reported perpetrators in the case of 71%.

Roadside bombs have caused 63% of civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Burkina Faso since 2017, and account for 65% of recorded incidents.

In 2022, AOAV has recorded 10 incidents of explosive weapon use in Burkina Faso, and 154 civilian casualties. The majority of casualties, 72%, have taken place in August and September.

AOAV’s casualty figures represent the lowest of estimations in terms of the number of people killed and injured by explosive weapon use. In an effort to quantify the explicit harm caused by specific explosive weapons, AOAV solely records incident-specific casualty figures, as reported in English-language media.

AOAV condemns the use of violence against civilians and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. All actors should stop using explosive weapons with wide-area effects where there is likely to be a high concentration of civilians.

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