At least 43 dead in weekend attacks in Burkina Faso: Media

KIGALI, Rwanda

At least 43 people were killed over the weekend in separate attacks attributed to terrorists in Burkina Faso, local media reported Sunday.

The first attack occurred between Salmossi and Markoye in the province of Oudalan in the Sahel region, leaving six people dead, including five army auxiliaries and one civilian, according to local media.

The online news site Infowakat also reported that eight other volunteer militiamen and a dozen civilians died in an attack in Guessel district in the same region.

The insurgents looted several private properties and vandalized others before fleeing, it said.

In another attack, a convoy of civilians escorted by army auxiliaries was ambushed by armed insurgents, leaving 15 civilians and two auxiliary militiamen dead in the Tambarga area while they were heading to Namouyouri in Kompienga province on the border with Benin, according to the media report.

Several other civilians were injured.

Meanwhile, additional attacks Saturday overnight by unidentified gunmen in the Hauts-Bassins region of Houet province left two gendarmes wounded and a vehicle burned, the local daily Lefaso reported.

The attacks targeted gendarmerie and police in Faramana on the border with Mali.

This was the second attack on the gendarmerie brigade of Faramana in the space of two years, the last taking place in May 2020.

Burkina Faso has been battling an insurgency that has spread from neighboring Mali over the past decade.

No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks.