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Burkina Faso rocked by new jihadist massacre
OUAGADOUGOU, Jan 28, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – At least 10 men have been killed in
a jihadist massacre at a village in Burkina Faso, which is in the grip of a
years-long Islamist insurgency, security and local sources told AFP on
Tuesday.
“We are talking of between 10 and 30 dead” in in the assault, which
targeted the village of Silgadji in northern Soum province, said a security
official.
The attack was launched on Saturday and jihadists were still in the area on
Monday, a resident in nearby Bourzanga town told AFP by phone, citing
accounts from those who had fled.
“The terrorists surrounded the people at the village market, before
separating them into two groups. The men were executed and the women were
ordered to leave the village,” the source said.
The security source said: “Security teams are trying to get to the site but
access to the village has probably been booby-trapped with homemade mines,
and they are having to proceed carefully.”
– Hundreds killed –
Jihadist groups have killed almost 800 people in Burkina Faso and
displaced 600,000 more since the start of 2015, when extremist violence began
to spread from neighbouring Mali.
The attack comes on the heels of a massacre of 36 people at two villages in
northern Sanmatenga province on January 20, prompting President Roch Marc
Christian Kabore to declare two days of national mourning.
Located in the heart of the vast Sahel region on the southern fringe of the
Sahara, Burkina Faso is one of the most impoverished countries in the world.
Its army is ill-equipped and poorly trained to deal with the threat
although in recent months commanders claim to have killed roughly 100
jihadists.
The assaults typically entail fast-moving jihadists who arrive on
motorbikes, attacking the market place.
There are 4,500 French troops deployed in the region, which are now backed
by armed drones, as well as a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali.
They support the forces of the “G5 Sahel” anti-terror group — Burkina
Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
The day after the attacks in Sanmatenga, the Burkina parliament adopted
unanimously a law allowing for the recruitment of local volunteers in the
fight against jihadists.
Volunteers aged over 18 will be given 14 days military training, after
which they will be given small arms and other communication equipment.
The recruits would be expected to conduct surveillance and provide
information and protection for their communities in the event of an attack
while waiting for security forces to deploy, according to Defence Minister
Cheriff Sy.
According to UN figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
last year claimed around 4,000 lives.
Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes, sparking a humanitarian
crisis.
BSS/AFP/RY/1712 hrs