Burkina: at least 20 dead in an attack by suspected jihadists

Twenty people were killed in Burkina Faso on Sunday in an attack by suspected jihadists in Nohao, near the town of Bittou, in the Center-East region bordering Togo, AFP learned on Monday.

"The attack killed around twenty people, mainly shopkeepers," a security source told AFP. A trader reports for his part a balance sheet of "25 people killed" and "more than fifteen transport trucks looted and then set on fire by the terrorists".

Another merchant reported "ten wounded", evacuated to Bittou, where traders were returning after going to the market in Cinkansé, a trading town on the Togo border.

"We deplore the loss of life whose bodies were deposited" at "the morgue of the CHR (Regional Hospital Center) of Tenkodogo", capital of the Center-East region, said in a press release a local official, Sami Beranger Pooda, who does not specify any figures.

Another attack occurred "Thursday around 6 p.m.", according to the same security source, and "targeted a convoy of several dozen vehicles carrying goods".

Since 2015, Burkina has been caught in a spiral of violence perpetrated by jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. action (Acled), including more than 5,000 since the start of 2023.

This violence has also led to the displacement of more than two million people inside the country.

In mid-July, President and Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in September 2022 by a coup d'etat, deplored "increasingly recurrent attacks against civilians", believing that the jihadists were showing "cowardice".