Reports from the Burkinabe government on Wednesday confirmed that 47 people, including 30 civilians, 14 soldiers, and three army auxiliaries, were killed in an attack by suspected terrorists on a military convoy escorting civilians in northern Burkina Faso.
The Burkinabe Ministry of Communication announced that “a mixed convoy composed of civilians, elements of the defense and security forces (FDS) and volunteers for the defense of the homeland (VDP) were the targets of a terrorist attack 25 km from Gorgadji (North), during which 30 civilians, 14 soldiers, and 3 VDP were killed,”
Gorgadji community is located in the Séno province, in northern Burkina Faso, in the so-called three-border zone, which straddles Mali and Niger.
Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed in the tri-border area which is the region most affected by the violence.
According to the government, the attack which also left 19 people wounded, took place “while the security forces and the VDP were on a mission to secure civilians leaving for Arbinda,”
“During the retaliation SDF and VDP shot dead 58 terrorists and many others were wounded and fled,” the same source said, noting that “rescue and field operations are ongoing.”
This attack is the third in a series that has left more than a dozen dead in two weeks against soldiers engaged in the anti-terrorist struggle in the north and northwest of Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso has been plagued since 2015 by regular and deadly terrorist attacks, particularly in the northern and eastern regions, like its neighbors Mali and Niger.
These attacks, often coupled with ambushes and attributed to terrorist groups affiliated with the Islamic State (EI) group and al-Qaeda, have killed more than 1,500 people and forced more than 1.3 million to flee their homes