APA – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) – More than forty people have been killed by Burkina Faso jihadist militants in separate attacks in the last 96 hours.
Gunmen belonging to Ansarul Islam, a Burkinabe jihadist group, entered the town of Nongofaïre, 35 kilometres south-east of Ouahigouya, on Thursday 18 May 2023, several sources told APA.
Local sources put the provisional death toll at 28. They include members of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP). Several other villagers were wounded.
“After an attack on the village of Nongfaïre in the north, the attackers were chased to the town of Barga. It is in this place that the air vectors neutralised these terrorists,” Burkina news outlet BID said.
Also on Thursday, the lifeless body of a young man was found in a pool of blood, according to a medical source.
On Tuesday, an armed jihadist group stopped a public transport bus on the outskirts of the town of Nouna, in the Boucle du Mouhoun region, kidnapped six people and then executed five of them, including juveniles, according to several sources. There are also reports that jihadist fighters have been controlling the Nouna-Dédougou road for weeks.
On Thursday 17 May, several demonstrators gathered in front of the gendarmerie brigade in Nouna to demand more security. Shops, businesses, schools and services remained closed, local media reported.
On the same day, another attack targeted the village of Bilguim-Douré in the centre-east. According to local residents, a dozen people were killed, including two civilian armed volunteers.
“Several concessions were burned. The armed men also entered the health centre, where they destroyed the water tower that supplied drinking water to the entire village and set fire to a health worker’s vehicle,” said a local source.
The activity of non-state armed groups has increased in recent months, significantly worsening the security situation in the country.
At the beginning of May, the transitional government decried what it called an “international coalition” aimed at destabilising the country.
Under pressure from the jihadists, more than two million people have fled their homes to seek refuge elsewhere in the country, according to official figures.
DS/ac/lb/as/APA