Burkina Faso: Suspected Takfiri militants raid village, kill nearly 20 civilians
Iran Press TV
Monday, 03 February 2020 6:52 AM
Nearly 20 civilians have lost their lives in an overnight attack by suspected Takfiri militants on a village in northeastern Burkina Faso, officials say.
Security sources said Sunday that Lamdamol village in Seno Province – located in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso – was raided by a group of "heavily armed" assailants riding on motorbikes, who "literally executed the local inhabitants," the AFP reported.
The sources said nearly 20 people had been killed in the attack, while governor of the Sahel region Colonel Salfo Kabore put the number at 18.
The village's chief nurse was also among the victims. Kabore said "the defense and security forces brought back the body of the nurse to give it to her family in Yalgo and secure the area to allow the burial of other victims."
A local health official told the AFP that "there is panic in the village and the surrounding area," adding that people were fleeing the area towards the center-north of the country.
A security source also said the attack was launched by the Takfiri militants after residents of the village paid no heed to an earlier call by them for people to leave the region.
Burkina Faso's northern regions have witnessed a spike in such militant raids over the past weeks. The deadliest one took place in late January, claiming the lives of 39 civilians in the province of Soum, northwest of Seno.
In the past years, Takfiri terrorist groups mainly linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh have emerged and expanded in the Sahel region, wreaking havoc on the civilian population.
Burkina Faso's security forces have failed in their struggles to counter the deadly raids despite the presence of thousands of foreign military forces, especially French troops, in their country.
The country borders Mali to the northwest and Niger to the east. Both of the neighboring states are similarly struggling to contain the rise of Takfiri militants there.
News of the latest attack came as France announced it would dispatch a large contingent of military troops to the Sahel region. The new contingent of 600 will bring the total number of French troops in the region to more than 5,000.
According to figures released by the United Nations, the attacks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso killed 4,000 people in 2019, caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and forced 600,000 to flee their homes in the region.
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