Four members of Burkina Faso’s Volunteers for the Protection of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian auxiliary force supporting the army, were killed in Bittou near the Ghanaian border after an attack by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
The assailants looted their weapons during the weekend assault, which highlights growing insecurity in the border area.
The attack follows a series of similar incidents, including JNIM’s claimed responsibility for strikes in Mongade near Kulungugu in June and in Garanga near Nware in Ghana’s Pusiga District in March.
Burkinabe security and defence forces have launched sweep operations along the Ghana and Togo borders in response to the latest incident.
Authorities warn that the confirmed presence of the al-Qaeda-linked group in the area underscores the cross-border nature of the insurgency and the risk of spillover into neighbouring countries.
The operations aim to neutralise the threat and restore stability to affected communities.
