OUAGADOUGOU: Local officials said on Saturday that 44 civilians were killed by terrorist groups in two villages in northeastern Burkina Faso.
A regional governor confirmed the terrorist attacks and said that recent wave of violence reported near the Niger border.
44 civilians killed in Burkina Faso: Officials
Regional governor Rodolphe Sorgho said that the terrorists targeted the villages of Tondobi and Kourakou and in northeast Burkina Faso last night. He confirmed that 44 civilians were killed and others injured in the attacks.
Sorgho told the media that 31 persons had died in Kourakou and thirteen in Tondobi.
The authorities said that an army operation put “out of action the terrorist groups” that carried out the recent terrorists attacks.
The governor claimed that they are taking actions to stabilize the region.
The recent twin assaults occurred close to the village of Seytenga, where 86 people were killed last June in one of the bloodiest assaults of a long-running insurgency.
The African country’s new army chief on Thursday vowed to start a “dynamic offensive” against militants after a string of insurgent assaults since the start of the current year.
“The dynamic operation under way in the past several weeks will be stepped up to eliminate armed groups,” said Colonel Celestin Simpore following a handover ceremony after his appointment last week.
Since the militants launched their drive from neighbouring Mali in 2015, over 10,000 civilians, personnel and police officials have been killed. Similarly, over two million people have been displaced due to ongoing conflict in the region.
The African country witnessed two coups in 2022. Since junta leader Ibrahim Traore took power in September, the activities of civil society organizations and political parties in the country have also been suspended.
