2023 Zorkoum attack

2023 Zorkoum attack
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
Date March 21, 2023 Location Zorkoum, Centre-Ouest, Burkina Faso
Belligerents
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Armed Forces Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland	Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin
Casualties and losses
14 killed	~20 killed

On March 21, 2023, jihadists from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin attacked a Burkinabe base in Zorkoum, Centre-Ouest, killing fourteen soldiers and pro-government militiamen dead along with twenty jihadists dead.

Much of northern Burkina Faso has been the frontline of an insurgency waged by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara since 2015, with these groups intensifying their attacks on civilians seen as sympathetic to the government since 2019.^[1] These jihadist groups had been known to invade towns near Kaya, including Zorkoum, multiple times over the past few years demanding zakat.^[2]

The attack took place at a barracks for the VDP, a pro-government civilian militia group.^[3] The unit had been responsible for providing security to workers fixing water supplies for the city of Kaya.^[4] Four Burkinabe soldiers and ten VDP were killed in the attack, according to France 24 citing local sources.^[4][3] Around twenty jihadists were reported killed by Burkinabe authorities as well.^[5]

JNIM claimed responsibility for the attack on April 19, along with a second attack in Zorkoum on April 10 that killed several soldiers and militants while the former were traveling to Bittou.^[3]