At least 27 people have reportedly been killed by insurgents in attacks on villages in northern Burkina Faso over the weekend.
Sources disclose that about 27 individuals, some of them children, were killed by the insurgents late Sunday near Bourasso in the Kossi province.
Locals say there were 20 or so fatalities after the attack. It was gathered that the assailants stormed the village at around 5pm, shooting sporadically at defenceless locals. They came back at night and blindly opened fire on people.
Another security source, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated that 12 people were killed on Saturday in an incident in the northern region of Burkina Faso, at Namissiguima in the Yatenga province.
Three of the victims belonged to the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian militia that was established in December 2019 to assist the armed forces.
One of the world’s poorest nations, Burkina Faso, has been battling an insurgency that began in nearby Mali in 2015.
The campaign, which has cost thousands of lives and driven about 1.9 million people from their homes, is mostly being spearheaded by organisations affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
According to official statistics, the government has no control over more than 40% of the nation. Recall that the Military Junta overthrew elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore in Burkina Faso’s January coup.
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the new Junta leader, announced security to be his primary concern; yet, after a brief respite, attacks resumed, claiming hundreds of deaths.