On the night between December 31, 2018, and January 1, 2019, alleged Ansarul Islam jihadists attacked the village of Yirgou, in Barsalogho Department, Burkina Faso.

[2] In the attack, the terrorists arrived in Yirgou on motorcycles, firing shots into the air before killing twelve people, including the village chief and his son.

[7] In the attacks, the Burkinabe government alleged 46 civilians were killed, although locals and the CISC claim that the real death toll is around 210–216.

[4][7] The attacks displaced dozens of thousands of civilians by April 2019, and most Burkinabe army attempts to mitigate the killings only ended up aiding the Koglweogo.

[8] The first town affected by the reprisals was Koulpagre, where a man named Diallo Alaye was kidnapped and tortured by the Koglweogo on January 28.