The attack on a bus convoy of the Canadian mining company Semafo, in eastern Burkina Faso, left at least 37 dead and 60 injured, local authorities said on Wednesday (November 6th). .
The attack was perpetrated "in the morning" by "unidentified armed individuals", according to the statement of the governor of the Eastern Region, Colonel Saidou Sanou. It occurred on the road connecting the mining sites of Fada and Boungou, about forty kilometers from the second, had previously indicated the Canadian mining company Semafo in a statement. Five buses carrying personnel, contractors and suppliers related to the mining company, who were escorted by soldiers, were targeted.
Semafo offers his condolences "to the families of the victims" and expresses "his strong support to the security forces of Burkina Faso," said the company in the statement.
More than 600 dead since 2015 in jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso
This Canadian gold producer, based in Montreal, has two operations in Burkina Faso, the Boungou mine in the east and the Mana mine in the west of the country. The company had already undergone two similar attacks in August 2018.
For almost five years, Burkina Faso has been caught in a spiral of violence attributed to jihadist movements, some affiliated with Al Qaeda and others affiliated with the Islamic State organization.
Since the beginning of 2015, jihadist attacks, more and more frequent and deadly, especially in the North and East, have caused nearly 649 deaths according to an AFP count and about 500,000 internally displaced persons and refugees, according to the 'UN.
With AFP and Reuters