Burkina Faso: three days of national mourning after the Seytenga attack
Soldiers in the Dori area, Burkina Faso (illustration image).
AFP/File
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
In Burkina Faso, three days of national mourning have been declared in support of the victims of the Seytenga attack in the east of the country.
On Saturday afternoon, residents suffered a deadly assault by armed men.
There would be 79 victims according to the latest report from the authorities.
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About fifty kilometers away, the town of Dori, Bineta Diagne, continues to see the survivors arrive.
The survivors arrive on foot, by bicycle, by cart or by tricycle.
On site, some can count on the support of their loved ones.
But the livelihoods of Dori residents are already limited.
The arrival of survivors only amplifies this phenomenon.
A city deprived of water
Survivors who have no family in Dori are referred to three sites set up by the city's social action.
The inhabitants of Dori try to help them spontaneously.
But they come up against another difficulty: the city has been deprived of drinking water for three days.
Abdou Dicko, head of the NGO Burkinabè Movement for Human and Peoples' Rights, describes the situation: "
There is no water in the city because the facilities were sabotaged a few days ago. .
So with the number of displaced people, it creates great concerns.
People are in carts or motorbikes in Dori to get supplies outside the city.
»
This official fears the appearance of waterborne diseases in the days to come.
The civil society of Dori asks that the strategic sites providing water and electricity be secured by the authorities.
In Ouagadougou, residents want more effort against terrorism
In Ouagadougou, mourning is respected by the populations, but they require more effort in the fight against terrorism, reports our correspondent
Yaya Boudani
.
Unlike on ordinary days, there was no music in the small café run by Ousmane Sawadogo.
Without rejecting the idea of national mourning, Ousmane and his comrades believe that it is rather necessary to put an end to the killings of the populations.
“
We will have to do it for people who have lost their parents, their brothers, etc.
But now, it is better to solve the problem than to spend our time in national mourning.
We will have to make policies to remedy these scourges, otherwise we risk losing even Ouagadougou one day.
»
These Burkinabè are calling for a general mobilization to confront the phenomenon of violent extremism.
Despite the change in the regime, they are powerless to assist in the resurgence of attacks against the defense forces and civilian populations.
"
We must come together to take the problem of terrorism in hand, because apparently this is beyond the competence of politicians
," said one.
“
These men don't have war planes, but they still manage to kill.
So, I tell myself that hand in hand, we can fight against this evil
, ”hopes another.
Since taking power in a coup on January 24, 2022, this is the first time that the President of Faso, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba has decreed national mourning, following a terrorist attack.
According to the government spokesperson, this massacre in Seytenga looks very much like reprisals against these populations.
►Also read: "Everywhere, they were killing people": armed men sow desolation in northern Burkina
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Burkina Faso