At least ten passengers on a bus were killed after it ran over a mine on Sunday in eastern Burkina Faso, the governor of this region bordering Niger said on Monday.
"In the afternoon of December 25, 2022, a public transport minibus hit a mine on the Fada N'Gourma - Kantchari axis, near the village of Bougui.
Unfortunately the explosion caused the death of ten passengers and injured five,” admitted to the hospital in Fada N'Gourma, the capital of the region, according to Colonel Hubert Yameogo's press release.
The toll could however increase since “other passengers would be missing”, he specified.
A security source joined by AFP confirmed the attack "with an improvised explosive device" and confirmed the death toll of "ten civilians".
Local sources joined to Fada N'Gourma also confirmed the incident and this toll.
“The bus had left Matiakoali for Fada N'Gourma.
The victims are mainly women and children,” said a resident whose cousin died in the incident.
Numerous jihadist attacks
On Saturday, two soldiers from a patrol unit were killed by an explosive device on the Ouahigouya - Gomboro axis, in the north of the country, according to a security source.
Since 2015, in addition to mine-related accidents, Burkina Faso has been regularly bereaved by jihadist attacks that have killed thousands and forced some two million people to flee their homes.
These attacks by groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda targeting soldiers and civilians have multiplied in recent months, mainly in the north and east of the country.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, transitional president resulting from a military coup on September 30 - the second in eight months - has set himself the objective of "recapturing the territory occupied by these hordes of terrorists".
Between December 1 and 10, 39 “terrorists” were killed during an anti-jihadist operation carried out in northwestern Burkina Faso, according to the army.
