OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO: At least 12 people, most of whom were civilian volunteers assisting the armed forces, were killed in northern Burkina Faso in a recent attack by insurgents, AFP reported citing local sources.
The attack took place at Boala in the Centre-North region. Reportedly at least 10 civilians were killed and several others were wounded in the attack. The injured were taken to a medical centre in Boulsa – the main town in Namentenga province.
According to an official of the Civilians for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), several terrorists were neutralised by civilians during a two-hour-long engagement, said AFP.
Burkina Faso – a small and impoverished landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel – has been battling a seven-year-old insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali. Thousands of civilians and security forces personnel have died and nearly two million were forced to evacuate their homes amid the insurgency which currently controls more than a third of the country.
The Volunteers
The VDP is an auxiliary force which was set up in 2019 to help the poorly-equipped army of Burkina Faso. It is comprised of civilian volunteers who receive only two-week military training before being deployed to carry out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
Till date, hundreds of volunteers have died, mostly in ambush attacks or explosions by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted along roadsides. But despite the high casualty rate, 90,000 people volunteered during a VDP recruitment drive in November, according to the authorities. – AFP/APP
