Officials condemned the “despicable and barbaric attack,” though they did not immediately identify the perpetrators. The West African nation has been battling militants linked to al‑Qaida and the Islamic State since 2013. On Saturday, a regional governor reported that at least 44 civilians were killed by terrorist groups in northeastern Burkina Faso.
Rodolphe Sorgho, the lieutenant governor of the Sahel region, denounced the assault on the villages of Kourakou and Tondobi. Gunmen killed 31 people in Kourakou and 13 in Tondobi, with additional victims wounded, according to the official. The Burkina Faso military engaged the attackers, and “actions to stabilise the area are under way,” he added.
A resident of Kourakou told AFP that “a large number of terrorists burst into the village.” He recalled hearing gunfire all night and, on Friday morning, discovering “several dozen dead.”
Burkina Faso, which experienced two coups last year, became the epicentre of the Sahel security crisis. The most recent coup in September placed Ibrahim Traoré in power; he claimed the military takeover was necessary to combat the country’s jihadist insurgency. France has supported the fight against Islamic insurgency in West Africa since 2013 and on Burkinabe soil since 2018. However, relations deteriorated after the September takeover, leading French troops to leave the country earlier this year at the request of Ouagadougou.
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