Burkina Faso: 138 civilians killed by terrorists
DAKAR, Senegal (Agencies) : At least 138 civilians were killed, including seven children, and dozens wounded in a terrorist attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso, on Saturday.
In the night from Friday to Saturday, terrorists raided the village of Yagha in northern Sahel region, near the borders with Mali and Niger and opened fire on residents and villagers, according to AIB news agency.
The attackers also set fire to houses and a market place belonging to the people of the region.
“Several injured have succumbed to their wounds and new bodies have been discovered. The still provisional toll is 138 deaths,” one local official said Saturday evening.
“The bodies were buried in mass graves,” the official said, adding that “there are dozens of injured” after the overnight attack by armed assailants.
The death toll is feared to rise.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore announced three days of national mourning starting Saturday night.
“I bow to the memory of the hundred civilians killed in the barbaric attack, and send my condolences to the families of the victims,” Kabore tweeted on Saturday, adding, “We must stand united against the forces of evil.”
Prime Minister Christophe Joseph Marie Dabire released a message on Twitter, in which he condemned the attack as “incredible barbarism,” and called on all people of Burkina Faso to “remain united and committed to valiantly defend our country.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed ‘outrage’ on Saturday for the killing of more than 100 people, including children, in Burkina Faso.
Guterres “strongly condemns the heinous attack and underscores the urgent need for the international community to redouble support to Member States in the fight against violent extremism and its unacceptable human toll,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
According to UN figures, more than 850 people have been killed and 1.1 million people have been displaced since 2015 in terrorist attacks in the country.
[Map of Burkina Faso by United States Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook/Creative Commons]
The post Burkina Faso: 138 civilians killed by terrorists appeared first on The Muslim News.