Militants attacked an outpost of the Burkinabe gendarmerie in Inata at 8:50 p.m, close to the mines.[3] Around forty men participated in the attack, riding on six motorcycles and two pickups. Burkinabe soldiers stated that the militants were heavily armed.[3][4] The attackers destroyed several vehicles at the gold mine, and raided the dormitories of civilian miners and staff.[5]
Burkinabe authorities alerted French airplanes of Operation Barkhane and asked them to intervene. French officials then directed a MQ-9 drone to the area along with two Mirage 2000 planes and a C135 fueling plane that took off from Niamey.[3][6] The drone spotted a column of several motorcycles headed north from Inata towards the Malian border, and carried out an airstrike against them that night.[3]
Aftermath
The Burkinabe Ministry of Defense stated that one soldier was killed and one was injured in the attack, and ten militants had been killed or injured.[7] On October 5, the Burkinabe Chief of Staff clarified that seven militants were killed, and that aerial reconnaissance reported that at least seven bodies were at the site of the airstrike.[2]
Responsibility
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, although Ansarul Islam was suspected due to being active in the area of Inata.[8][2]
