Verified footage shows al-Qaeda affiliate attacks near Burkina Faso–Mali borderpublished at 15:25 BST
15:25 BST
Sebastian Vandermeersch
BBC Verify
Image source, X
We’ve verified new footage filmed by fighters of Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), al-Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate, engaged in two separate attacks in Burkina Faso’s north-west, close to the border with Mali.
The villages of Gomboro and Tanagye, 25km apart, were targeted in a string of attacks.
The jihadist group has been involved in a long-running insurgency against the Burkinabe government. The ruling military junta seized power in 2022, vowing to crush the group.
The Gomboro attack reportedly took place on 13 September. Footage shows dozens of fighters arriving on motorcycles and inside a captured military base. Fires are visible inside the compound, and one disabled Burkinabè armoured personnel carrier can be seen.
We confirmed the location by matching buildings to Google Earth, while Planet satellite imagery from 15 September shows a fresh burn scar consistent with the video.
Footage from Tanagye was shared online by the group on 14 September. It shows jihadists firing their weapons, including a motorcycle-mounted heavy machine gun and moving freely through the village once resistance appears to have collapsed, passing several burning buildings in Tanagye’s marketplace. We geolocated this video by matching a radio mast to Google Earth satellite imagery.
It is not clear from the footage whether soldiers or civilians were killed in either of the attacks.
Despite Burkina Faso’s junta pledging to crush the insurgency after seizing power, large swathes of the country remain outside government control, with both al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates active.