2022 Gaskinde attack
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- 27 soldiers killed
- 10 civilians killed
Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin| 2022 Gaskinde attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso | |
| Location | Gaskinde, Soum Province, Burkina Faso |
| Date | September 26, 2022 |
| Deaths | 37
|
| Perpetrator | Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin |
On September 26, 2022, a convoy bound for the besieged city of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso was attacked by armed gunmen, killing 27 soldiers and 10 civilians. The Mali-based jihadist group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The Gaskinde attack was a key reason for the September 30 coup in Burkina Faso, as many frontline officers were disgruntled about Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba's handling of the jihadist insurgency.[1]
Since 2015, northern Burkina Faso has been embroiled in a jihadist insurgency after Mali-based jihadist groups such as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, JNIM, and Al-Mourabitoun. Soum Province, and its capital city of Djibo, have been at the forefront of the insurgency, and as it escalated in early 2022, jihadist groups laid siege to the city and forced Burkinabe troops and civilians to use only one road to get in or out.[2] This road has been the scene of multiple bombings, attacks, and ambushes by jihadist groups against civilians and soldiers, most notably on September 5, 2022, when a bus carrying students from Djibo to Ouagadougou was bombed, killing 35 people and injuring 37 more.[2]