(Ouagadougou) At least twelve people, mostly civilian army auxiliaries, were killed on Wednesday in a new attack by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, local sources told AFP on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, “armed individuals carried out an attack against the populations of Boala”, in the Center-North region, “killing at least twelve people”, a resident told AFP, specifying that the victims are “almost all Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland” (VDP), army auxiliaries.
“There are at least ten volunteers who were killed and several wounded who were evacuated to the medical center of Boulsa”, the capital of the province of Namentenga located in this region, said another resident, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
A regional VDP official, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attack, adding that “several terrorists were neutralized by the volunteers after more than two hours of fighting”.
This new attack is the fourth known since Sunday in Burkina: they left a total of at least 27 dead.
Monday and Tuesday in this same region, at least nine civilians died during the attack on a village and a convoy of traders.
On Sunday, six civilians, including four teachers, were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists in Bittou, a city in Burkina Faso near the borders of Ghana and Togo.
On November 26, four soldiers were also killed in the explosion of an improvised device in the north, and three civilians shot dead in another attack in the northeast.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been regularly bereaved by increasingly frequent jihadist attacks that have killed thousands and forced some two million people to flee their homes.
These attacks by groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda targeting soldiers and civilians have multiplied in recent months, mainly in the north and east of the country.
Appointed President of the Transition by the Constitutional Council on October 21, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, author of a military coup on September 30 – the second in eight months – has set himself the objective of “reclaiming the territory occupied by these hordes of terrorists”.
Jihadists occupy approximately 40% of Burkinabe territory.
Following a recruitment campaign, 90,000 civilians signed up to join the Homeland Defense Volunteers (VDP, civilian army auxiliaries), called upon to support the army in its fight against jihadists .