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Ten jihadists, members of a “group affiliated with the Ansarul Islam organization”, were eliminated by the French force Barkhane overnight from Monday to Tuesday. They were involved in the bloody attack of November 14, 2021 once morest the Inata gendarmerie camp. The French army general staff added that four civilians had been killed during the operation.
Ten jihadists implicated in the death of 53 gendarmes in Inata, in the north of Burkina Faso, in November 2021, were killed during an operation by the French force Barkhane on the night of Monday to Tuesday, the general staff of the French armies announced on Thursday February 10. They were members of a “group affiliated with the Ansarul Islam organization” which carried out “numerous attacks once morest the civilian population” and once morest the security forces, in particular in Inata, he specified in a press release.
In the early morning of November 14, a column of pick-ups and motorcycles comprising “more than 300 fighters” from jihadist armed groups, according to military sources, stormed the camp of the Inata gendarmerie detachment.
The attack, the deadliest once morest the defense and security forces since Burkina Faso was confronted with jihadist actions, left at least 57 dead, including 53 gendarmes, and highlighted the growing powerlessness of the army in the face of to the repeated actions of the jihadists.
fierce fighting
“After locating and identifying the group from various intelligence sources, a first air strike was carried out near the camp” of jihadists, regarding fifty kilometers northwest of Ouahigouya, the staff said. French armies.
“A group of commandos, supported by an attack helicopter, was then dropped to the ground to reconnoiter and search the camp,” he added. “He was then attacked by a dozen terrorists in ambush, who were neutralized with the support of the attack helicopter following heavy fighting,” he said. “A significant amount of weapons, explosives, mortars and shells were also seized.”
Despite “all the measures taken”, “four civilians, present on the camp in the middle of the terrorists, lost their lives during the exchange of fire”, lamented the general staff of the armies. “In accordance with the rules, the bodies were buried with all the necessary dignity.”
No injuries are to be deplored on the French side, said the spokesman for the staff, Colonel Pascal Ianni.
With AFP
