Numerous gunmen descended on the village of Sambelga, about forty kilometers from Dori, in the Sahel region (north), and “started shooting people,” said a local officer of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), a paramilitary auxiliary to the armed forces. .
At least ten civilians were killed the day before Wednesday in an armed attack in the northern sector of Burkina Faso, a country facing the action of jihadist organizations since 2015, sources close to the security forces and residents told AFP yesterday Thursday.
“Numerous gunmen arrived in the village of Sambelga”, about forty kilometers from Dori, in the Sahel region (north), and “started shooting people”, said a local officer of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), a paramilitary body supporting the armed forces. forces.
“Unfortunately we mourn a dozen dead, all civilians,” he added, also referring to “wounded” people who were treated. A resident of the village confirmed this version of events, adding that “shops were looted and set on fire”.
Yesterday morning, “group of terrorists returned. He set fire to houses and stole animals,” said another resident, stressing that his fellow villagers “are preparing to leave the village, but are afraid that the terrorists will intercept them on the way.”
Between June 10 and 25, at least six people were killed on the Sambelga-Dori axis by gunmen who have been set to impose a blockade on the community, the latter added.
Last Wednesday, about fifteen civilians were killed in a raid by suspected jihadists in the eastern part of the country, according to sources close to the security forces and residents.
And, on June 26, at least 71 men, 31 members of the army and 40 members of the VDP, were killed in three attacks by alleged jihadists.
Burkina Faso, theater of coups in 2022, a country faced since 2015 by the escalating violence of jihadist organizations that appeared in Mali a few years earlier before spreading beyond its borders, has been ruled since September by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power with the second military coup within eight months.
Violence by jihadist groups that pledge allegiance to either al-Qaeda or Islamic State has killed more than 10,000 people, civilians and soldiers, in eight years, according to NGOs, and forced more than two million others to flee their homes, according to UN calculations.
Source :Skai
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