Battle of Ougarou

Violence by jihadist groups increased exponentially since the September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état that overthrew putschist Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who came to power in a coup that January.^[1] Much of the violence was caused by the al-Qaeda-aligned Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and it's affiliates in Burkina Faso and the Islamic State – Sahil Province, which have besieged towns and launched deadly attacks on Burkinabe soldiers and pro-government militiamen.^[2]

The Burkinabe military base in Ougarou was attacked on the morning of April 27.^[3] Little is known about how the attack developed, but a Burkinabe press release stated that there was "particularly intense" fighting between the jihadists and the soldiers.^[4] The press release also stated that the Burkinabe soldiers were overpowered by a larger group of jihadist reinforcements.^[3] The reinforcements allowed the jihadists to evacuate wounded comrades.^[5]

Burkinabe officials stated that 33 soldiers were killed and twelve were wounded, along with some soldiers missing.^[4][3] They also claimed that at least 40 jihadists were killed or injured before the arrival of reinforcements.^[5][1] No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Africa Center for Strategic Studies accused Katiba Hanifa of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin of responsibility.^[1]