At least nineteen civilians, including nine army auxiliaries, were killed in two attacks on Thursday and Sunday in the north-west and east of Burkina Faso, AFP learned on Monday from local and security sources. .
Sunday, around 4 p.m., “
a group of terrorists attacked the people of Yargatenga.
At least ten men were cowardly murdered
,” a resident of this locality, located in eastern Burkina Faso, on the border of Togo and Ghana, told AFP.
The Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP, army auxiliaries) "
tried to oppose this incursion, but two of them fell with arms in hand
", continued this resident.
Multiple attacks
The attack was confirmed by a local official, evoking for his part a balance sheet of "
13 dead
" and "
many material damages
", without further details.
"
This is the third time Yaragatenga has been targeted in a month
," he said, recalling that "
the town commissioner was killed in an ambush on February 1.
"
On Thursday, a raid by armed men hit the locality of Dembo, on the other side of Burkina Faso, in the North West, according to local sources.
"
In the afternoon of Thursday, a hundred armed men, on pick-ups and motorcycles, burst into the village of Dembo, opening fire before confronting the VDPs
", indicated Monday a of their managers at AFP.
“
We lost seven elements after these clashes which lasted more than three hours.
Several enemies were also killed, but their bodies were taken away
,” he said.
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According to him, the lack of fuel in this town explains the difficulty of the VDPs in tracking down the attackers in their retreat.
A military detachment from Nouna, the capital of Kossi province, was deployed on Friday.
“
Since the beginning of the year, the terrorists have been visiting the city, but they have not yet killed
,” a resident of the area told AFP, assuring that “
the populations have started to pack up since the weekend
”.
Spiral of violence
Deadly raids attributed to jihadists have multiplied in recent weeks in Burkina.
Including these two attacks, around 60 people died last week and around 50 the previous week.
Burkina Faso, the scene of two military coups in 2022, has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of jihadist violence that appeared in Mali and Niger a few years earlier and which has spread beyond their borders.
The violence left thousands dead - civilians and soldiers - and some two million displaced.