15 killed in two ‘terrorist’ attacks on Burkina villages

OUAGADOUGOU: Two attacks by “armed terrorists” on villages in northern Burkina Faso left 15 people dead, the country’s Defence Minister Cheriff Sy said on Monday.

The gunmen attacked the villages of Sagho and Toekodogo, in the Barsalogho district, on Saturday, Sy said in a statement, describing them as members of “armed terrorist groups”. “These attacks unfortunately caused the death of 15 people, 13 of them in Sagho and two in Toekodogo,” he said. The attackers also set fire to three shops and around 10 motorcycles.

Once alerted, soldiers and members of the security forces were deployed who put the assailants to flight, Sy added.

Burkina Faso has suffered from increasingly frequent and deadly attacks attributed to a number of Jihadist groups, including the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

More than 1,000 people have fled their homes because of the unrest in the region, finding refuge in the capital Ouagadougou, in the centre of the country.