Barsalogho Bloodbath: How Defensive Trenches Turned a Mass Grave

WARNING: This report comprises references to killings and graphic violence that some readers may discover distressing.

Movies circulating on-line present the second militants killed greater than 100 unarmed residents digging defensive trenches in Barsalogho, Burkina Faso, final month. 

Footage reveals these killed mendacity in trenches dug to guard their city.

Satellite tv for pc pictures additionally reveal that in depth new trenches had been dug round Barsalogho instantly after the bloodbath.

In line with Collectif Justice Pour Barsalogho (CJB), a collective shaped by residents within the aftermath of the assault, civilians had been pressured by the Burkinabè military to dig the trenches on Saturday morning, August 24, after they got here underneath assault from Al Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM). Bellingcat was not in a position to independently confirm this declare. 

The CJB described the military’s incapacity to stop the bloodbath as a “bitter failure.”

The movies filmed by JNIM present militants taking pictures at unarmed individuals, and dozens of our bodies scattered alongside the trenches.

JNIM claimed it killed 300 individuals affiliated with the Burkinabè navy. The precise variety of individuals killed and wounded has nonetheless not been confirmed by the federal government, with early studies suggesting a whole bunch had been killed.

Navy officers met with some victims in close by Kaya after the assault, however neither the federal government nor the navy has been forthcoming about occasions. Greater than every week after the bloodbath, the nation’s president Ibrahim Traoré, has but to launch an official assertion concerning the assault, though the Presidential Workplace launched a report on Wednesday outlining that Malian and Nigérien officers had expressed solidarity with the victims.

Bellingcat geolocated footage filmed by JNIM militants through the assault and analysed satellite tv for pc imagery exhibiting the expansion of the trenches across the city.

Bikes Method

On the morning of Saturday August 24, armed males on bikes approached the outskirts of Barsalogho, the place scores of individuals had been digging defensive trenches. 

Bellingcat obtained and geolocated 4 movies that each one seem to have been filmed by the identical JNIM militant: one exhibiting them approaching the trenches, one upon arrival on the trenches, and one other two exhibiting executions and lifeless our bodies within the trenches.

Bellingcat discovered {that a} fifth video circulated on-line, allegedly exhibiting the aftermath of the assault, was really filmed in Melgué, Mali, the place JNIM fighters are additionally current.

A sixth video circulated on-line reveals a number of males digging trenches, however we’ve got up to now been unable to confirm its location or time.

The primary video reveals the start of the JNIM assault, exhibiting greater than twenty bikes charging in direction of the trenches. Bellingcat geolocated this footage to the east of Barsalogho, roughly following the highway from Nyanga. As they method, some militants dismount from the motorbikes to comply with on foot. The militants are closely armed, and machine-gun hearth could be heard all through the video.

New Fortifications across the City

In late 2022, satellite tv for pc imagery reveals the development of trenches across the western outskirts of Barsalogho. By 2023, the fortifications had expanded into extra in depth trenches circling across the northwest aspect of the city, as highlighted by New York Instances investigator and former Bellingcat researcher, Christiaan Triebert.

Excessive-resolution Airbus satellite tv for pc imagery from March 17, 2024, out there in Google Earth Professional, reveals this trench line. On August 22, 2024, low-resolution PlanetScope satellite tv for pc imagery from Planet Labs PBC reveals development work in progress on the ditch line to the east of Barsalogho, close to the highway in direction of the city of Nyanga.

Artificial Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite tv for pc imagery tasked by Bellingcat and captured by Umbra House on the night of August 28 reveals two new trenches — one within the west and one within the east, close to the place Bellingcat geolocated the assault and its aftermath.

The complete-resolution SAR picture (2.2 GB) is accessible for analysis use right here underneath a CC-BY 4.0 licence with attribution to Umbra House. 

PlanetScope imagery reveals that the western trench was constructed between August 6 and August 18 of this 12 months, and the japanese trench was constructed between August 22 and August 24, when the assault came about.

After the assault, 3.75 kilometres (km) of recent trenches had been constructed, primarily based on evaluation of a Planet Labs PBC SkySat picture captured on the morning of September 2.

Footage Reveals Extra Particulars concerning the Assault

One of many JNIM movies reveals militants finishing up execution-style killings, taking pictures at individuals mendacity within the trenches at shut vary. One man within the trench could be seen attempting to dash away when he’s shot within the again. A number of our bodies could be seen in piles, scattered alongside the trenches.

One of many JNIM movies is sort of three minutes lengthy and reveals at the least 124 our bodies. Scattered shovels and digging instruments lie across the our bodies. 

Not one of the our bodies look like in navy uniform. No weapons could be seen on or close to the lifeless within the trenches in footage reviewed by Bellingcat.

Bellingcat geolocated three of the JNIM movies to the brand new trenches, from August 2024, situated east of Barsalogho. 

In one of many movies, a militant could be seen strolling alongside a trench that tapers to an finish, indicating that it was within the strategy of being prolonged.

Because the militant walks towards the top of the ditch, he seems behind him and two distinct timber are seen. 

We had been in a position to establish the precise location of the video utilizing a mixture of high-resolution imagery from Google Earth Professional and up to date SkySat imagery out there by Planet Labs PBC. 

The Planet Labs imagery reveals the extent of the ditch development on August 29 and the place it ends, whereas the Google Earth imagery permits the timber to be extra simply recognized. 

Utilizing this methodology, Bellingcat discovered that the video was filmed round right here: 13.42395, -1.02216, about 3.8 km east of Barsalogho centre. 

A phone pole can even briefly be seen within the footage of the aftermath. We used this extra visible clue to verify the geolocation.

One other video reveals the militants shifting round a trench line in direction of Barsalogho, accompanied by the sound of gunfire. Greater than 110 bikes are seen on this video, which Bellingcat geolocated to the identical trench simply north of the highway to Nyanga.

In line with studies, the attackers arrived on the trenches round 10 a.m., which is supported by the course of the shadows within the movies. Nonetheless, a precise time couldn’t be decided.

Broadly Circulated Video Truly Filmed in Neighbouring Mali

Along with footage posted by JNIM, Bellingcat discovered that one other video circulated on-line and cited in media studies, allegedly exhibiting the aftermath of the August 24 assault, was really filmed in neighbouring Mali in a separate incident. 

By extracting keyframes from the video utilizing ffmpeg and reverse picture looking one of many keyframes, we established that the video was posted on-line previous to the Barsalogho assault. 

Twitter consumer @WarWatchs posted on August 18, 2024 that the video confirmed the aftermath of a special JNIM assault in Melgué, Mali, a city close to the Mauritanian border, a whole bunch of kilometres from Barsalogho.

A Google search with the key phrases JNIM and Melgué led us to an older put up by France 24 journalist and Sahel knowledgeable, Wassim Nasr, containing a video filmed on the identical location however from a special angle.

Utilizing these two movies, we had been in a position to affirm the video circulated in relation to Barsalogho was actually from Melgué. Importantly, Wassim Nasr’s video reveals a number of matching buildings and the identical hill, which helped us match it to the opposite video. 

A Russian-language Telegram channel, @Departamente, which focuses on the battle in Sahelian international locations, additionally shared movies filmed by JNIM fighters on the website of the assault. 

Bellingcat was in a position to match the situation within the movies to 14.89513, -11.78243.

By means of its media wing, Az-Zallaqa, JNIM confirmed that that they had attacked navy positions in Melgué, and the autos within the Az-Zallaqa footage correspond with the autos in movies that had been shared by @Departamente on Telegram.

JNIM’s Sample of Assaults

An official dying toll has not but been confirmed, with figures various broadly. The UN reported round 200 lifeless and 140 wounded, whereas CJB say nearer to 400 had been killed.

4 days after the assault JNIM launched a press release claiming they killed 300 individuals on the trenches close to Barsalogho and that each one the individuals killed had been militias and affiliated with the Burnabè military.

Apart from the weapons wielded by the JNIM militants, Bellingcat didn’t observe another firearms within the movies and no weapons could be seen close to the our bodies within the trenches. The individuals counted in these movies appeared to have been unarmed.

“This assault is definitely one of many worst carried out by the JNIM however falls right into a sample that we’ve got beforehand documented,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, Senior Sahel Researcher at Human Rights Watch, instructed Bellingcat.

She mentioned the JNIM had besieged dozens of cities throughout the nation, blocking meals and humanitarian assist.

“[JNIM] has continuously focused civilians and is answerable for severe abuses in opposition to them, together with mass killings, destruction and looting of civilian property, kidnapping and sexual assaults.”

Burkina Faso has been engaged in a non-international armed battle in opposition to Islamist militia since 2016, and Human Rights Watch have documented a number of massacres carried out by each the navy and militant teams in opposition to unarmed people. 

Amnesty Worldwide reported final 12 months that greater than dozens of areas throughout the nation had been underneath siege from armed teams.

The most recent bloodbath happens at a strategic location within the nation, lower than 150 km from the capital.

Bellingcat beforehand reported on a JNIM assault on a humanitarian convoy heading to the besieged city of Djibo in September 2022. Days after the assault amid a deteriorating safety state of affairs, Burkinabè navy commander Ibrahim Traoré staged a coup and took management of the nation. 

Traoré got here to energy pledging to enhance the unstable safety state of affairs, however up to now has did not ship on the promise. Traoré has stored a low profile amid a sequence of assaults within the nation and continues to be but to talk about the Barsalogho bloodbath.

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