At least thirty people were killed Monday in the east of the country in a fresh attack blamed on jihadists.
The cycle of violence continues in Burkina Faso, a week after the execution of the three European journalists.
This time it was Kodyel, a town in the east of the country that was targeted by jihadists.
“Dozens of men burst into the village and set fire to houses while others were watching, they opened fire on people indiscriminately,” said an official of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP).
The VDP are civilian auxiliaries engaged in the anti-jihadist struggle alongside the defence and security forces.
The attack, which left at least 30 people dead, was one of the deadliest in the country for more than six years.
According to a regional official of the VDP, the death toll could even be higher.
Some twenty people were wounded, several of them in serious condition, during the deadly raid, for which no group has claimed responsibility.
According to security sources who requested anonymity, “this massacre could have been avoided” because “warnings had been given a few days ago about the presence of terrorists in the area. Some individuals had already threatened the villagers, whom they accused of denouncing them or encouraging the volunteers fighting them.”
Burkina Faso has faced recurrent jihadist attacks since 2015, as have its neighbours in Mali and Niger.
Attacks are often blamed on groups affiliated to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
CD/lb/as/APA