APA-Ouagadougu (Burkina Faso) Jihadist groups, in late February 2023, targeted the eastern town of Partiaga, killing dozens of civilians and displacing thousands more, the country’s main human rights body claims.
Insurgents “finally” attacked the village of Partiaga in the eastern region on Sunday, February 26, 2023, after several weeks of “recurring threats,” the eastern regional chapter of the Burkinabe Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights (MBDHP) said in a statement released Tuesday.
“They are people of all colors, whites and blacks. They went around the town for several days before attacking,” a resident of the town, contacted by APA confirmed.
He mentioned in particular an ambush on February 17 that killed several soldiers and civilian vigilantes and
the day after which the army “left Partiaga, abandoning us and Volunteers for the Defense of the Motherland (VDPs), which were outnumbered and poorly equipped.”
The human rights organization said that “in the morning of February 26, 2023, armed terrorist groups invaded the commune, killing, destroying property and taking away livestock,” indicating that “in the absence of any intervention by the SDF, the horror lasted all day, as the VDPs were quickly overwhelmed by events.”
“All the administrative buildings were burned, the granaries were burned, and the houses were burned,” some residents said.
Citing local sources, the MBDHP reports that some 60 people were killed. Our sources add that some 20 civilians were missing, 30 or so were wounded, and thousands have been displaced to the towns of Diapaga and Namounou, where demonstrations have been organised to support the new arrivals and to call on the authorities.
To date, no official report has been released. On Monday, February 27, the Governor of the Eastern Region informed the public that “security actions are underway and that an assessment of the attack will be made as soon as possible. Since then, there has been nothing.
The Agence d’information du Burkina reported that air strikes on Sunday neutralised dozens of suspected jihadists and allowed the return of the army and the population to the areas hitherto under threat.
“To date, Partiaga has been practically emptied of most of its population,” the MBDHP said, calling on the transitional authorities to “ensure that these internally displaced persons receive adequate humanitarian care and (…) fulfill their sovereign mission of securing the population and their property.”
Burkina Faso is in the throes of a jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of civilians and armed vigilantes and displaced over two million people.
DS/ac/fss/as/APA