View source for December 2019 Arbinda attack

{{Short description|2019 militant attack in Burkina Faso}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = December 2019 Arbinda attack
| width             = 
| partof            = the [[Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso]]
| image             = 
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| date              = 24 December 2019
| place             = [[Arbinda]], [[Soum Province]], [[Burkina Faso]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|14.22917|-0.86333|display=inline,title}} <!--Use the  template -->
| map_type          = 
| map_relief        = 
| map_size          = 
| map_marksize      = 
| map_caption       = 
| map_label         = 
| territory         = 
| result            = Burkinese victory
| status            = 
| combatants_header = 
| combatant1        = {{flag|Burkina Faso}}
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant}} [[Islamic State in the Greater Sahara]]
| combatant3        = 
| commander1        = 
| commander2        = 
| commander3        = 
| units1            = 
| units2            = 
| units3            = 
| strength1         = Unknown
| strength2         = 200 - 300
| strength3         = 
| casualties1       = 7 killed<br>17 wounded
| casualties2       = 30-80 killed
| casualties3       = 35 civilians killed, 6 wounded
| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = 
}}

{{Campaignbox Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso}}
On December 24, 2019, militants from the [[Islamic State in the Greater Sahara]] attacked the Burkinabe government military base in [[Arbinda]], [[Sahel Region]], [[Burkina Faso]] along with the town of Arbinda itself. The attack was halted due to French and Burkinabe air intervention, although 35 civilians were killed in the jihadists' massacre. The Arbinda attack was the deadliest incident in the [[jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso]] in several years.

== Background ==
The town of Arbinda in northern Burkina Faso was the site of various violent attacks between [[Mossi people|Mossi]] militias called Koglweogos, backed by the Burkinabe government, and Fulani civilians alleged to be sympathetic or involved with jihadist groups active in the area.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2019-12-25 |title=Attaque jihadiste au Burkina: le pays en deuil, messages de solidarité |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/attaque-au-burkina-35-civils-tues-dont-de-nombreuses-femmes-25-12-2019-2354712_24.php |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=Le Point |language=fr}}</ref> Gendarmes in Arbinda were responsible for the killing of 116 men, most of whom were Fulani, between mid-2018 and February 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-03-22 |title=Burkina Faso : Des atrocités commises par les islamistes armés et par les forces de sécurité {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2019/03/22/burkina-faso-des-atrocites-commises-par-les-islamistes-armes-et-par-les-forces-de |access-date=2024-09-16 |language=fr}}</ref> Between March 31 and April 2, 2019, inter-ethnic clashes between Mossi militias, Fulani militias, and [[Kurumba people|Kurumba]] militias left 62 people dead in Arbinda. The Burkinabe government claimed that the clashes involved "terrorists."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-04 |title=Burkina Faso: le gouvernement annonce 62 morts dans les affrontements à Arbinda |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20190404-burkina-faso-gouvernement-62-morts-affrontements-arbinda |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=RFI |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Macé |first=Célian |title=Au Burkina Faso, l'horreur de la guerre de proximité |url=https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2019/04/04/au-burkina-faso-l-horreur-de-la-guerre-de-proximite_1719403/ |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=Libération |language=fr}}</ref> On June 9, nineteen more civilians were killed in Arbinda.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Burkina Faso : au moins 19 morts dans une attaque dans le Nord - Jeune Afrique.com |url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/786771/politique/burkina-faso-au-moins-19-morts-dans-une-attaque-dans-le-nord/ |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=JeuneAfrique.com |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2019-11-20 |title=Burkina Faso: les gendarmes repoussent une attaque jihadiste à Arbinda |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20191120-burkina-faso-attaque-jihadiste-arbinda |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=RFI |language=fr}}</ref>

In October, jihadists attacked [[Dolmane gold mine attack|Dolmane]] near Arbinda, killing twenty gold miners.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-10-06 |title=Burkina Faso: une vingtaine de morts dans l'attaque d'un site d'orpaillage dans le Nord |url=https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Burkina-Faso-une-vingtaine-de-morts-dans-l-attaque-d-un-site-d-orpaillage-dans-le-Nord-1651067 |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=parismatch.com |language=fr}}</ref> A second attack on Arbinda on November 20 was repelled by Burkinabe forces, killing at least eighteen jihadists and only one gendarme.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2019-11-20 |title=Burkina Faso: les gendarmes repoussent une attaque jihadiste à Arbinda |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20191120-burkina-faso-attaque-jihadiste-arbinda |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=RFI |language=fr}}</ref>

== Attack ==
Fighting in Arbinda began at 6am on December 24, 2019. Burkinabe officials stated that a "significant number of terrorists" carried out the attack, with the jihadists simultaneously attacking the Burkinabe military base and the town of Arbinda itself.<ref name=":1" /> [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] reported that around 200 jihadists participated in the attack, although a Burkinabe official told [[Le Monde]] that 300 men participated. Many of the attackers were Fulani.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=2019-12-27 |title=Le Burkina Faso confronté à la terreur djihadiste |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/12/27/le-burkina-faso-face-a-la-terreur-djihadiste_6024169_3212.html |access-date=2024-09-16 |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> 

The attack began with a suicide bomber driving a [[VBIED]] into the military base. Clashes between the jihadists and soldiers lasted for two to three hours and was unusually intense.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> The battle was interrupted by a Burkinabe [[A-29 Super Tucano]] and two French [[Dassault Mirage 2000|Mirage 2000s]] launching airstrikes, repelling the attack.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lagneau |first=Laurent |date=2020-01-09 |title=Barkhane : Deux Mirage 2000D ont appuyé la force aérienne burkinabè lors de l'attaque d'Arbinda |url=https://www.opex360.com/2020/01/09/barkhane-deux-mirage-2000d-ont-appuye-la-force-aerienne-burkinabe-lors-de-lattaque-darbinda/ |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=Zone Militaire |language=fr-FR}}</ref> However, the jihadists had massacred dozens of civilians, mostly women and internally displaced refugees.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2019-12-24 |title=Burkina Faso: double attaque meurtrière à Arbinda, au moins 35 civils tués |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20191224-burkina-faso-terroristes-abattus-armee-attaque-arbinda-soum |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=RFI |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-06 |title=Burkina Faso : Flambée d’atrocités commises par des islamistes armés {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2020/01/06/burkina-faso-flambee-datrocites-commises-par-des-islamistes-armes |access-date=2024-09-16 |language=fr}}</ref><ref name="bbc">[https://bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-50908880 Burkina Faso: Many women killed in suspected jihadist attack]</ref> The rationale for the killings was not immediately known, although it could've been a reprisal for the killings of Fulani months prior.<ref name=":3" />

== Aftermath ==

=== Perpetrator ===
The attack was not immediately claimed, and [[Ansarul Islam (Sahel)|Ansarul Islam]] and the [[Islamic State in the Greater Sahara]] were the main suspects. The latter claimed responsibility on December 27, 2019.<ref name=":5">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=4-_A4FLGXfA&feature=emb_logo |title=Revendication de l'EI sur l'attaque au Burkina Faso : l'éclairage de Wassim Nasr |date=2019-12-27 |last=FRANCE 24 |access-date=2024-09-16 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 27, 2019 |title=Burkina : l'EI revendique l'attaque de la base militaire d'Arbinda |url=https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1200081/burkina-lei-revendique-lattaque-darbinda.html |access-date=September 16, 2024 |website=L'Orient Le-Jour}}</ref>

=== Casualties ===
On December 24, the Burkinabe government assessed that seven Burkinabe fighters were killed; four [[Burkina Faso Armed Forces|soldiers]] and three [[National Gendarmerie (Burkina Faso)|gendarmes]], and twenty other Burkinabe men wounded.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2019-12-24 |title=Burkina Faso : plusieurs dizaines de civils tués dans une attaque dans le nord |url=https://www.france24.com/fr/20191224-burkina-faso-au-moins-80-terroristes-tu%C3%A9s-dans-une-attaque-dans-le-nord-du-pays |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=France 24 |language=fr}}</ref> The number of wounded was later reduced to 17.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Puxton |first=Matteo |date=2019-12-30 |title=Matteo Puxton : « La montée en puissance de l'Etat Islamique au Grand Sahara est particulièrement visible depuis le début de l’année » |url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https://lemonde-arabe.fr/30/12/2019/matteo-puxton-la-montee-en-puissance-de-letat-islamique-au-grand-sahara-est-particulierement-visible-depuis-le-debut-de-lannee/ |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=Le Monde arabe |language=fr-FR}}</ref> Burkinabe officials also announced that 35 civilians had been killed by the jihadists, including 31 women. Six other civilians had been wounded.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":4" /> The Burkinabe government also stated that 80 jihadists had been killed in the attacks and a hundred motorcycles had been captured.<ref name=":6" />

Journalist [[Wassim Nasr]] stated that the Burkinabe claim of 80 killed was likely an exaggeration. [[Matteo Puxton]], an expert on the Islamic State, stated that photos only showed the bodies of thirty to forty jihadists. Both Puxton and Nasr stated that the 80 number was part of a series of exaggerated, unprovable death tolls from operations against jihadists.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-25 |title=Attaque au Burkina: 7 soldats, 35 civils, et 80 «terroristes» tués |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/attaque-au-burkina-7-soldats-35-civils-et-80-terroristes-tues-20191225 |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=Le Figaro |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":5" />

ISGS stated that they had killed seven Burkinabe soldiers, but did not mention the massacred civilians.<ref name=":5" />

=== Reactions ===
The Burkinabe government announced two days of national mourning beginning on December 25. President [[Roch Marc Christian Kaboré]] condemned the barbarity of the attack, and praised the gendarmes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-12-25 |title=Le Burkina Faso en deuil à Noël après les pires attaques djihadistes depuis cinq ans |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/12/25/le-burkina-faso-en-deuil-a-noel-apres-la-pire-attaque-djihadiste-depuis-cinq-ans_6024038_3212.html |access-date=2024-09-16 |language=fr}}</ref> Secretary-General of the UN [[António Guterres]] condemned the attack alongside [[Pope Francis]], European Union president [[Charles Michel]], and Nigerien president [[Mahamadou Issoufou]].<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{reflist}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbinda, December 2019}}
[[Category:2019 mass shootings in Africa]]
[[Category:2019 murders in Burkina Faso]]
[[Category:Attacks on military installations in 2019]]
[[Category:December 2019 crimes in Africa]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 2019]]
[[Category:21st-century mass murder in Burkina Faso]]
[[Category:Soum Province]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Burkina Faso in 2019]]
[[Category:Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso]]
[[Category:ISIL terrorist incidents in Africa]]
[[Category:Violence against women in Burkina Faso]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2019]]
[[Category:Mass shootings in Burkina Faso]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Burkina Faso]]


[[Category:Battles in 2019]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara]]
[[Category:Battles involving Burkina Faso]]