OUAGADOUGOU: At least 12 people were killed in northern Burkina Faso, a region that jihadist insurgents have battered, local inhabitants said on Monday.
“A group of terrorists” on Thursday stormed the village of Aorema, near the town of Ouahigouya, one of the locals told AFP. A security source confirmed the attack but did not give a toll.
“The attackers opened indiscriminate fire on a group of young people” sitting at an informal restaurant, an inhabitant said.
“Seven people died on the spot, and three people died in their homes where stray rounds hit them. Two other people died of injuries,” the security source said.
Another inhabitant said the death toll rose to 14 from others who subsequently died of injuries.
The security source said that “the terrorists” had previously made incursions into the village and warned young people not to gather at the restaurant.
The source in the security forces said “operations were underway” against the attackers.
The day after the attack, the authorities placed the North region and parts of the center-east region under a 10 pm to 5 am curfew until March 31.
Over 10,000 people killed in Burkina Faso since 2015
Over 10,000 people have lost their lives in Burkina Faso since jihadists swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015, more than two million people have fled their homes, and the insurgents control at least a third of the country.
Shockwaves from the violence led to two coups last year by army officers angry at government failures to roll back the jihadists.
The country’s latest leader is Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power last September at 34, vowing to recover territory captured by the jihadists.
But attacks have escalated sharply since the start of the year, with dozens of weekly casualties among civilians and the security forces.
One of the enormous losses was on February 17, when an ambush in the far north, claimed by the Islamic State group, killed 51 troops, according to a provisional army toll.
