At least twelve members of Burkina Faso’s security forces, including two ‘volunteers’ recruited to reinforce the fight against terrorism, and a civilian were killed on Monday in an attack by unidentified gunmen in the town of Falangoutou, in the Sahel region (north), the African country’s authorities have confirmed.
The Burkinabe army said in a statement that «residual elements of armed groups operating in the area» launched an attack on the town and stressed that «gendarmes and volunteers showed anticipation to prevent a massacre of the population and bravely responded to the attack».
«Unfortunately, they paid a high price,» he said, adding that five gendarmes were wounded and ten were reported missing. He also stressed that 15 «terrorists» were killed in the clashes, while conveying his condolences to the families of the officers killed in the attack.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Cascades region (southwest) confirmed the discovery of 15 bodies in the town of Linguekoro after an attack on Sunday by an unidentified armed group. The victims were traveling in two vehicles that were intercepted by the attackers, who freed eight women and one man before executing 15 adult men, according to the Burkinabe news portal Burkina 24.
«On behalf of the government, the governor of the Cascades region expresses his compassion and solidarity to the bereaved families and invites the population to increase collaboration with the defense and security forces, which remain determined, together with the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland, to continue the fight until the victory of our people against all their enemies,» he concluded.
Burkina Faso, ruled by a military junta since the January 2022 coup d’état against the then president, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, has experienced a rise in insecurity since 2015. The junta is now headed by Ibrahim Traoré, who staged an uprising in September that was considered a ‘palace coup’ against the hitherto leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The attacks, the work of both Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates in the region, have also contributed to an increase in inter-community violence and have led to the flourishing of self-defense groups, to which the Burkinabe government has added ‘volunteers’. The deteriorating security situation has led to a wave of internally displaced persons and refugees to other countries in the region.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
