Five volunteers working with the army in Burkina Faso were killed in an attack this week in the western part of the country, security officials reported on Saturday.
“A forward position of security forces, largely made up of auxiliaries from the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), was assaulted by armed terrorist factions,” said an official. “Regrettably, five volunteers lost their lives,” adding that the incident took place on Thursday in the Gnangdin region, close to the borders with Togo and Ghana.
The volunteers, who collaborate with the military, are recruited from local communities, provided with weapons, and undergo three months of training. They can operate alongside professional soldiers or independently.
The event sparked protests from residents, who blocked the highway connecting the area to the Togolese border. The blockade lasted several hours before authorities dispersed it.
Since the spread of unrest to Burkina Faso in 2015, approximately 26,000 people have lost their lives, and around two million have been displaced, based on data from the monitoring group ACLED.
