Burkina Faso again in mourning.
About forty army auxiliaries and civilians were killed on Saturday May 14 in three attacks carried out by suspected jihadists in the north and east of the Sahelian country, security and local sources announced on Monday May 16 to AFP .
After a lull following the takeover by the military, the country is facing an upsurge in attacks.
The deadliest attack targeted the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP, civilian army auxiliaries) in the commune of Guessel in the Sahel region (North), killing "about twenty people, including eight VDP “, according to one of their managers.
He added that on the same day, five other auxiliaries and a civilian had been killed in Markoye, in the same region, which a security source confirmed, speaking of a "series of attacks which mainly targeted the Volunteers". .
"Measures have been taken to [send] reinforcements to the area and the protection of hard-hit populations," she said.
In the province of Kompienga (South-East) near the borders of Togo and Benin, "a convoy of civilians escorted by army auxiliaries was targeted by an attack in Namouyouri", indicated another security source from the region, stating that "fifteen civilians were killed".
A resident of the province said that in addition to civilians, "three auxiliaries" were also killed during this attack.
He appealed for help "for the care of a dozen injured people".
In the night from Saturday to Sunday, another simultaneous attack against the gendarmerie and police stations in Faramana (West), near the Malian border, also injured two security forces, according to a security source.
More than 100 dead since the putsch
Burkina Faso has been the target of jihadist attacks since 2015, perpetrated by armed movements, some of which are affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State terrorist group.
They left more than 2,000 dead and 1.8 million displaced.
While the north and east of the country concentrate the majority of jihadist attacks, certain regions in the west are also affected by violence, on a less regular basis.
The country's new strongman, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who overthrew elected President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré on January 24, accused of being ineffective in the face of jihadist violence, assured that he wanted to address the security issue its "priority".
After a relative lull in the weeks following its takeover, the military regime is facing an upsurge in attacks by suspected jihadists which have killed more than 100 people, including civilians and soldiers.
A week ago, the Burkinabè army announced in a press release that it had "neutralized" at least 50 "terrorists" by responding to an ambush in the northwest, as well as during an operation in the southwest.
In early April, the head of state announced the creation of local dialogue committees with local jihadist groups to try to stem the violence.
With AFP
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