Africa

Burkina Faso’s worst attack in years leaves at least 132 civilians dead

Attackers struck in jihadist-plagued northwest, with seven children among the dead

Burkinabe soldiers patrol in a pick-up car in Gorom-Gorom, northern Burkina Faso, 2012. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty

Sun Jun 6 2021 - 16:42

As least 132 people were killed in the worst militant attack in Burkina Faso in recent years, the government said on Saturday, after armed assailants laid siege overnight to a village in the jihadist-plagued northeast.

The attackers struck during the night on Friday, killing residents of the village of Solhan in Yagha province, bordering Niger. They also burned homes and the market, the government said in a statement.

It declared a 72-hour period of national mourning, describing the attackers as terrorists, although no group has claimed responsibility. Another 40 residents were wounded, government spokesperson Ousseni Tamboura said later.

The United Nations said secretary-general Antonio Guterres was outraged by the attack, whose victims included seven children.

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Despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeepers, attacks by jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State in west Africa's Sahel region have risen sharply since the start of the year, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, with civilians bearing the brunt.

The violence in Burkina Faso has displaced more than 1.14 million people in just over two years, while the poor, arid country is hosting some 20,000 refugees from neighbouring Mali.

The latest attack pushes the number killed by armed Islamists in the Sahel region to more than 500 since January, according to Human Rights Watch's west Africa director Corinne Dufka.

“The dynamic is the jihadists come in, they overpower the civil defence post and engage in collective punishment against the rest of the village – it’s a pattern we’ve seen everywhere this year,” Dufka said.

In March attackers killed 137 people in co-ordinated raids on villages in southwest Niger.

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