An armed group linked to al-Qaeda, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for what it says was an attack that killed up to 200 people and injured at least 140 in central Burkina Faso.

The attack took place on Saturday in the region of Barsalogho, about 40km (25 miles) north of the strategic town of Kaya, which analysts said is home to the last standing force protecting the capital, Ouagadougou.

Fighters opened fire on teams of people digging trenches designed to protect security outposts. Several soldiers were missing after the attack, and the attackers took weapons and a military ambulance.

Burkina Faso has severed its ties with Western countries such as France that had been involved in helping the country’s security forces tackle armed groups.

Armed groups have killed thousands of people and displaced more than two million in Burkina Faso over more than a decade.

The country has topped the recent Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) list of the world’s most neglected displacement crises.

The violence killed more than 8,400 people last year, double the number of deaths from the previous year, according to the NRC.

More than a third of Burkina Faso is currently under the control of insurgents.
The authorities have been battling Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, which have taken over large swathes of land and displaced millions of people in the Sahel region.

In the last three years, churches have been targeted and scores of worshippers killed.

Burkina Faso, which is ruled by a military dictatorship, recently pulled out of the regional political and economic bloc, Ecowas, along with its Sahel neighbours, Mali and Niger.

They cited a lack of support from Ecowas in the fight against terrorism as one of the reasons for wanting to exit the union.