A weekend attack by suspected militants on Titao, northern Burkina Faso, killed around 10 civilians, including seven Ghanaians, officials said.
The assault, launched on Saturday, targeted the town’s military detachment, a strategic outpost in the northern Louroum province.
A local resident told AFP traders and truck drivers were killed, while several shops and vehicles were set ablaze.
Ghana’s interior minister confirmed the deaths of seven Ghanaian tomato sellers, adding their bodies had been burnt beyond recognition.
The Burkinabe army, which rarely comments on attacks, said it had successfully repelled the militant offensive on national television.
Army spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Abdoul Aziz Ouedraogo accused the attackers of setting the market on fire to produce propaganda videos.
On Monday, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, or JNIM, claimed responsibility for Titao.
JNIM also said it attacked army bases in Nare, Tandjari, Bilanga, and Ouahigouya between Thursday and Sunday, killing at least 19 soldiers.
Despite a 2022 military coup promising security, Burkina Faso remains trapped in a decade-long spiral of militant violence.
Conflict monitor ACLED reported that tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers have died since 2015, more than half in the past three years.
The weekend raid underscores the persistent fragility of Burkina Faso’s northern territories and the deadly reach of armed groups.