Militants linked to al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility for massacring as many as 300 people in Burkina Faso in what is thought to be the country’s worst terrorist attack.

Gunmen opened fire on civilians and soldiers who were digging trenches for use by the army in Barsalogho commune, in Sanmatenga Province.

Unverified videos claiming to show the aftermath showed bodies piled around the unfinished trenches.

Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that at least 100 bodies were counted in the videos after the attack by JNIM, an umbrella coalition of al-Qaeda-aligned groups.

Wamaps, which reports on security in the Sahel region, said at least 208 people were killed, but many more were still missing and 150 were wounded.

The site said: “The final toll could reach 350 to 400 victims.

“This would be the most violent attack ever carried out by terrorists on Burkinabe territory.

”The victims were mostly civilians, employed to dig trenches north of the town of Barsalogho to protect the population.”

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that it gained “total control over a militia position” in Barsalogho.

Burkina Faso’s military junta did not reveal a death toll from the attack, but Mahamadou Sana, its security minister, said: “We are not going to accept such barbarity on the territory.”

About half of Burkina Faso is beyond government control, as the country has been ravaged by increasing jihadi attacks, encircling the capital.

The jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced more than two million people.

The country’s ruler Capt Ibrahim Traore came to power promising to defeat jihadist groups in the country, but large-scale attacks continue.

Two weeks ago, militants killed more than 140 Burkinabe soldiers in an ambush on a convoy of military vehicles near Nassougou locality of Gourma Province in Est Region.

Security forces lack air cover or intelligence, and are also unable to stop militants crossing from Mali and Niger, which are also struggling with jihadist violence.

Mr Nasr told Associated Press that human rights abuses committed by the country’s security forces had also led to more people joining the jihadists.