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Dozens of people have been killed in an attack by the militants in Burkina Faso, local and security sources told AFP on Monday.
Jihadist rebels affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have waged a grinding insurgency since 2015 in Burkina Faso that has killed thousands and displaced two million people.
The latest attack was carried out by armed men in the village of Barsalogho in north-central Burkina Faso on Saturday, multiple sources said.
Communications Minister Rimtalba Ouedraogo said it was carried out by “hordes of criminals”.
The assailants targeted “women, children, elderly, men, making no distinction”, Ouedraogo said on national television.
A local resident said that the assault happened around 9:00 am on Saturday, when “terrorist groups attacked the village, killing numerous civilians and security personnel”.
A security source who asked not to be named said there were “several dozen dead” including civilians and security forces.
Most of the “numerous wounded” were taken to a hospital in the regional capital of Kaya, some 45 kilometres (28 miles) away, the source added.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
A second security source said that “the response of the soldiers” and auxiliary troops “made it possible to neutralise several terrorists and avoid a greater tragedy”.
According to a hospital source in Kaya, more than 100 wounded people were taken to the city’s largest medical centre.
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said civilians were killed in the attack, despite “a response and air support”.
After taking power in a putsch in September 2022, Burkina’s coup leaders expelled troops and diplomats from former colonial ruler France, and have turned to Russia for military assistance.
AFP.
