Burkinabe Prime Minister, Christophe Dabire has promised the people of Burkina Faso to punish those that attacked the nation leaving 160 people dead last weekend in northern Burkina Faso.
“This deadly incursion (…) will not go unpunished,” Dabiré said after a meeting with the people of Solhan, who have taken refuge in Sebba, the capital of the Yagha province, where he flew in a helicopter with five members of the government.
He assures that “… there is hope because we will reorganize ourselves to be able to provide the appropriate response to the situation,”
The day after the attack, government placed security measures and today this part of the territory is occupied by a number of forces doing a sweep,”
On Friday night, armed men suspected militants attacked the village of Solhan in the Yagha province (Sahel region), killing 132 people according to the government, while local sources put the death toll at 160.
Minister of Communication and government spokesman, Ousséni Tamboura explained the discrepancy in the death toll provided. He admitted “unfortunately, they were able to add up the victims of the commune of Yagha and the commune of Markoye, since on the same night of June 4-5, attacks also took place in the commune of Markoye (13 dead) and in another locality (15 dead),”
Adding up the victims of these different communes (132+13+15), makes 160 dead,”.
On Monday, the governor of the Sahel region, Colonel Salfo Kaboré, banned the use of two- and three-wheelers in the area “until further notice.
Burkina Faso, a Sahel country bordering Mali and Niger, has been facing increasingly frequent and deadly terrorist attacks for six years.
Security forces are struggling to stem the spiral of extremist violence that has left more than 1,400 people dead and more than a million displaced since 2015.