Air Delivered event in Burkina Faso on Sat 21st May 2022

On Saturday, May 21, 2022, more than 200 heavily armed terrorists attacked a detachment of the Burkinabe armed forces stationed in Bourzanga in the Bam province (North-Central region of Burkina Faso). The intervention of the M-2000 fighter jets of the Barkhane force on patrol in the area, the commitment and determination to fight of the Burkinabe soldiers on the ground made it possible to repel the attack, inflicting heavy losses on the attackers.

35 terrorists were killed, around forty motorcycles, collective and individual weapons of various calibers, 2 pick-ups and an armored vehicle recovered.

Military sources said that the terrorists did not have time to collect the bodies of their fellow sufferers and fled in total panic, abandoning their vehicles and weapons.

On the side of the Burkinabe soldiers, 5 fell on the field of honor and around ten were injured.

A press release made public by the General Staff of the French Armed Forces indicated that the emergency engagement of a patrol of Mirage 2000s from the Niamey air base was possible at the request of the Burkinabe partner and the combined action with the armed forces on the ground and a Mi24 made it possible to inflict heavy losses on the terrorists.

"The intervention of the Mi24 helicopter of the Burkina Faso air force, as well as a Mirage 2000 fighter patrol of the Barkhane force, which took off from Niamey, allowed the interception of certain elements who were trying to escape," specifies a press release made public on the evening of the attack by the General Staff of the Burkinabe Armed Forces.

According to the French General Staff, the Barkhane Force "remains determined to continue the fight against armed terrorist groups with its Sahelian, European and North American allies."

The failure of the major terrorist attack against the Bourzanga detachment reflects the good relations that the Burkinabe executive maintains with its French, African, European and American partners.

It should be noted, moreover, that after the attackers were repelled, a Cessna plane from the Nigerian Air Force was engaged during the search operations.

"The search and security operations were supported by the deployment of a Nigerien Cessna ISR aircraft and the transfer of the wounded carried out jointly by the air resources of the Air Force and the Sabre task force," underlines the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso.

According to the Burkinabe military, security operations took place after the attack and took the entire day of Saturday, May 21, 2022.