Burkina Faso: Dozens killed in attack

Gunmen described by Burkinabe authorities as “terrorists” killed dozens of people, including civilians, in north-central Burkina Faso on Saturday, AFP learned from multiple sources on Sunday.

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Four ministers and army chiefs went to meet the victims on Sunday in Gaya, where most of the wounded were evacuated, 45 kilometers from the village of Barsaloko, which was hit.

On national television, Communications Minister Rimdolba Jean-Emmanuel Otrogo spoke of the “cowardly and barbaric attack” carried out by a “gang of criminals” who attacked women, children, the elderly and men indiscriminately.

For months, authorities have rarely reported on the violence that has ravaged the country.

No report of the dead and injured has been provided by the government, and no details of the perpetrators of the massacre.

Defense Minister Mahmudou Sana lamented the civilian casualties despite the “response and support of aerial vectors”.

He also said an unspecified number of soldiers and “VDPs”, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (the name given to civilian auxiliaries who fight alongside the army) were killed.

“We regret several dozen deaths,” a security source in the area said on condition of anonymity.

“Yesterday [samedi]Around 9:00 am [5h00, heure du Québec]”Terrorist groups attacked the village, killing many civilians and security personnel,” said a resident of the area contacted by AFP.

The attack has not yet been claimed by armed groups in the region, mainly linked to al-Qaeda.

According to another local resident, the victims were mainly “young civilians who came in large numbers to help soldiers dig trenches around the city to protect themselves from possible attacks by armed terrorist groups.”

“We buried most of the victims this Sunday,” he said.

“Mass influx of patients”

A second security source declared, “The response of soldiers and VDP neutralized many terrorists and averted a major tragedy.”

According to a hospital source in Gaya, more than a hundred injured people were taken to the city’s largest medical center.

In an internal memo consulted by AFP on Sunday, Safoura Yaméogo, director general of the Kaya Regional Hospital Center, called on all on-call and off-duty medical staff to “mobilize in the face of the emergency linked to the massive influx of patients. From morning [samedi] August 24.”

Since 2015, the country has been under constant attack by jihadist groups, which has killed more than 20,000 people — civilians and soldiers — including nearly 3,800 this year, according to an NGO that lists victims of conflicts around the world.

The UN and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly accused Burkinabe security forces and the VDP of mass killings against civilians.

The head of the Burkinabe regime, Captain Ibrahim Drare, who came to power in a coup in September 2022, had promised to make the fight against “terrorism” his “priority”.