OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Armed assailants killed at least 22 civilians in northwest Burkina Faso on Monday, a neighborhood official mentioned, the most recent lethal attack in an space marred by militant exercise.
The attackers raided a rural commune in the province of Kossi, round 55 kilometres from the border with Mali, in the hours between late Sunday night time and early Monday morning, regional governor Babo Pierre Bassinga mentioned in an announcement.
“The provisional demise toll of this terrorist attack is 22 useless, a number of wounded and materials injury,” it mentioned.
Military forces have been deployed to the scene and measures are in place host those that fled to close by cities, the assertion added.
Burkina Faso has been battling Islamist militants energetic in northern areas, some with hyperlinks to al Qaeda and Islamic State, since 2015.
The combating has displaced greater than 1.85 million in the West African nation alone and killed hundreds throughout the Sahel, the place militant exercise that took root in Mali has unfold over the previous decade.
Army officers offended concerning the escalating assaults overthrew Burkina Faso’s president in January and vowed to enhance safety, however ranges of violence have remained excessive.
Armed men killed at least 100 civilians in one other rural district in northern Burkina Faso final month, the deadliest attack the nation has seen in at least a yr.
(Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by David Gregorio)
