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Burkina: three days of national mourning after the attack which left 79 dead

2022-06-14T11:33:08.984Z


Burkina Faso began a three-day national mourning on Tuesday, June 14 after the attack that killed at least 79 people in Seytenga (North), according to a new...


Burkina Faso began a three-day national mourning on Tuesday June 14 after the attack which killed at least 79 people in Seytenga (North), according to a new report, the deadliest killing for a year in this country regularly hit by jihadists since 2015.

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29 new bodies were found.

This figure is added to the fifty or so dead bodies already found, bringing the provisional toll of victims of the killings to 79 dead

, "said a government press release on Tuesday, which specifies that the search is continuing. The army's progress is "

slowed down

“by the probability of homemade bombs placed”

by the terrorists to undermine the site

“, continues the text.

This is the second deadliest attack recorded in Burkina Faso, after that of June 2021 against the village of Solhan, where 132 people were killed according to the government, 160 according to local sources.

According to the European Union, which condemned the attack on Seytenga, the toll could reach a hundred dead.

They were only targeting men

The terrorists came to the city on Saturday, market day.

They started shooting as soon as they entered

,” “

around 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. (GMT and local)

,” a survivor who wished to remain anonymous told AFP by telephone.

They only targeted men.

They visited one store after another, burning some down.

They shot at those who tried to flee.

They stayed in the city all night

,” continued this man who had taken refuge in Dori, the nearest large town.

As soon as the shooting started on Saturday evening, with my family we fled into the bush.

We stayed there all night before reaching Dori on Sunday morning.

We didn't take anything and we learned that they burned down the houses, so we lost everything

,” explained another survivor.

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Seytenga had already been hit two days earlier, Thursday, by a jihadist attack that killed eleven gendarmes.

According to several displaced persons, the gendarmerie had left the village the following day.

The Burkinabè army had for its part announced that it had killed around forty jihadists following the attack on Thursday.

The weekend murders "

are retaliation for the actions of the army which have caused bloodletting

" within jihadist groups, said government spokesman Lionel Bilgo.

"Where is Burkina going?"

Tuesday was a time of mourning and concern in the country.

Where is Burkina going?

Asked the private daily

Le Pays

on Tuesday, deploring the "

unparalleled barbarism

" of the bloody weekend assault in Seytenga, located in the Sahelian province of Séno.

A decisive war must be waged!

“, demanded Tuesday the online media Wakat Sera, while the private daily “

Today in Faso

” deplored “

an umpteenth massacre which calls for more courage and fighting spirit

”.

National mourning, decreed by the president of the transition, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, began Tuesday at midnight and will end at the same time on Friday.

It is "

observed throughout the national territory, in memory of the victims of the attack perpetrated by unidentified armed individuals against the municipality of Seytenga

", indicates the decree.

"

During this period, the flags are lowered to half mast on all public buildings and in the representations of Burkina Faso abroad

" and "

popular festivities, demonstrations of a recreational nature are prohibited

", underlines the text.

Two million displaced

After the coming to power of Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba who had overthrown President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, accused of ineffectiveness against insecurity, the attacks of these movements affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State had stalled.

But they have taken over and killed nearly 300 civilians and soldiers in the past three months.

In early April, community leaders and fighters from local armed groups began talks with the government's backing, mainly in the north and east of the country.

Read alsoBurkina: four civilians killed during a Barkhane raid

These border regions of Mali and Niger are the most affected by jihadist violence.

It is estimated that since 2015 the attacks have left thousands dead and nearly two million displaced in Burkina.

According to the NGO Acled, Burkina Faso experienced more deadly attacks in 2021 than Mali or Niger, which are also regularly hit.

We are witnessing a humanitarian disaster in Burkina Faso.

Our generation is waiting for a miracle

,” concludes Yeli Monique Kam, former 2020 presidential candidate.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-06-14

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