OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — The Islamic State group has claimed duty for killing greater than 70 troopers, wounding dozens and taking 5 hostage, in an ambush on a army convoy in northern Burkina Faso.

The assertion, posted Friday by Amaq, the group’s information company, stated it attacked a convoy attempting to advance to areas beneath its management close to Deou, within the Sahel’s Oudalan province. It stated it seized weapons and chased retreating troopers for miles into the desert.

Pictures launched by the group present 54 slain our bodies in army uniform mendacity within the bloodstained dust, in addition to greater than 50 seized assault rifles and pictures of the 5 troopers it stated have been taken prisoner.

The announcement comes one week after the assault in Deou and days after one other assault in Tin-Akoff city, the place locals and civil society teams say dozens extra troopers and civilians have been killed when a army outpost was hit.

It is unclear how many individuals have been killed within the two incidents. Final week the federal government confirmed that 51 troopers died within the Deou ambush but it surely has not responded to requests for up to date numbers or commented on the assault in Tin-Akoff.

Violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group has wracked the nation for seven years killing hundreds and displacing almost 2 million individuals. Frustration on the authorities’s incapacity to stem the violence led to 2 coups final yr, every one preceded by a serious assault on the army.

That is the deadliest ambush on troopers for the reason that new junta chief, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, seized energy in September and analysts say it might threaten his grip on energy.

“There’s a persistent stream of militant assaults north of the nation and the general public is undoubtedly taking discover of their authorities’s incapacity to offer safety. Any additional assaults this colossal might threaten a public scene and even threaten to unseat the junta,” stated Laith Alkhouri, CEO of Intelonyx Intelligence Advisory, which supplies intelligence evaluation.

One soldier concerned within the ambush in Deou, who was not licensed to talk to the media, stated their convoy was outnumbered as greater than 300 jihadis encircled them, firing rockets and mortars. “We misplaced many males”, he stated.

The massive variety of jihadis and the totally different coloured headscarves they have been carrying appeared like a coalition of many extremist franchises that he hadn’t seen earlier than, he stated.

The Islamic State and an al-Qaida linked group, identified by its acronym JNIM, will not be identified to work collectively, however quite have been combating one another for territory and affect within the nation in addition to in neighboring Mali the place they function. Analysts say it is extraordinarily unlikely they’d have joined forces.

Some locals say the rise of jihadi violence in opposition to the army is revenge for torture and extrajudicial killings by troopers in opposition to individuals presumed to be jihadis.

Hamadou Boureima Diallo, an area journalist within the Sahel’s Dori city, instructed The Related Press by telephone that he spoke with locals who witnessed the most recent assault in Tin-Akoff and have been capable of flee and that they blamed the killings on revenge.

“These current bloody assaults in opposition to troopers is as a result of when the troopers arrest terrorists or presumed terrorists they torture them and make photographs or movies that flow into on social media,” stated Diallo, recounting what the locals stated. “We’ve seen among the movies the place presumed terrorists are being tortured. … This isn’t good,” he stated.