Burkina Faso: Ten civilians killed in jihadist attack
An armed attack in northern Burkina Faso, an area plagued by jihadist violence, has left about 10 civilians dead, security and local sources told AFP on Thursday 6 July 2023. A large group of armed men descended on the village of Sampelga, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the northeastern town of Dori in the […]
An armed attack in northern Burkina Faso, an area plagued by jihadist violence, has left about 10 civilians dead, security and local sources told AFP on Thursday 6 July 2023.
A large group of armed men descended on the village of Sampelga, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the northeastern town of Dori in the Sahel region on Wednesday “and began shooting at people”, said an official with the auxiliary force Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) that is allied with the Burkinabe army.
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MORE CIVILIANS SUFFER
“Unfortunately, around 10 people were killed, all civilians,” he said, adding that several others were being treated for wounds. A resident of the same village reported the same toll, saying that “several stores were looted and set ablaze”.
On Thursday morning, “a terrorist group” returned, setting fire to homes before stealing livestock, another villager said. “Many people are preparing to flee the village but fear being intercepted on the road by terrorists,” the villager added.
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LATEST ATTACK IN BURKINA FASO
Last month, at least six people were killed on the route between Sampelga and Dori by armed men who attempted to blockade the area, the villager said. The latest attack follows the killing of around 15 civilians by suspected jihadists in a separate incident in the country’s east, also on Wednesday.
Last week, four attacks by suspected jihadists left at least 71 volunteer militiamen and regular soldiers dead, the army and security sources have said. The two deadliest clashes took place in the Centre-Nord region on June 26 and early tolls spoke of dozens dead.
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Burkina has been struggling with a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015. Anger within the military at failures to roll back the insurgency sparked two coups last year, culminating in the ascent of a young army captain, Ibrahim Traore, in September.
More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have died in the violence, according to an NGO count, while at least two million people have been displaced.
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© Agence France-Presse