The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Apollinaire Joachimson Kiellem de Tabela, described yesterday Wednesday as a “tragedy” the jihadist attack against the community of Barsaloggo (north), almost three weeks ago, which resulted in the loss of the lives of at least 400 civilians, according to local sources.

The attack, which took place on August 24, is the bloodiest ever to hit Burkina Faso, which has been wracked by jihadist violence for nearly a decade.

Although no official tally has been made public, collectives in the area spoke of at least four hundred civilian deaths.

A delegation of members of the cabinet and the military was sent to the area after the attack, but the authorities have not made any announcement since.

Yesterday the prime minister of the Sahel country broke his silence, but without giving any account of the victims either.

“We all witnessed the tragedy that unfolded in Barsaloggo on August 24. It happened because we were cheated,” he said, after a long-standing tirade against the “capitalist imperialists.”

Burkina Faso is ruled by a military regime that took power in September 2022 and says its priority is to restore national sovereignty. The regime has turned its back on the country’s former Western allies, notably France.

A few months ago, Captain Ibrahim Traore, the head of the junta, asked security forces to mobilize civilians to dig trenches to counter jihadist attacks.

During one such operation, civilians were massacred in the community of Barsalogho, in an attack attributed to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (WIM, which has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda), which later claimed responsibility.

“The head of state has given the necessary instructions to protect the population in case of general mobilization. Why were these instructions not followed?”, asked Mr. Tabelas.

Captain Traore has not spoken publicly since the attack.

Since 2015, the country has experienced a wave of attacks by jihadist organizations, with over 20,000 dead, including military and civilians.

The situation continues to worsen, with the non-governmental organization ACLED estimating that some 3,800 people have been killed so far this year.