Rebels in Burkina Faso execute 170 people

Prosecutor Aly Benjamin Coulibaly of the Ouahigouya town prosecutor's office (Yatenga province, Burkina Faso) said on February 25 that the attacks targeted a mosque in the east and a Catholic church in the north of the country, killing dozens of others.

al qaeda linked attack and execution of 170 people in burkina faso photo 1 — A soldier patrols in Ouahigouya, eastern Burkina Faso, near the site of militant attacks and executions - Photo: AFP

Aly Benjamin Coulibaly said he had received reports of attacks on the villages of Komsilga, Nodin and Soroe in Yatenga province, with a provisional figure of "around 170 people executed". In addition, many others were injured and there was material damage.

Prosecutor Coulibaly added that his office had ordered an investigation into the killings and appealed to the public for information. Survivors of the attacks said dozens of women and children were among the victims.

It was not clear whether the attacks were separate from the killings that took place on the same day at a mosque in the rural community of Natiaboani and a church in the village of Essakane six days ago, according to local security sources.

Burkina Faso authorities have not yet released an official death toll from the attacks, but a senior church official said at the time that at least 15 civilians were killed in Essakane.

Burkina Faso is struggling with a jihadist insurgency led by militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which swept into Burkina Faso from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

Violence has killed nearly 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million in Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries located in the Sahel, a troubled region of West Africa.

Anger at the state's failure to end the unrest played a major role in two military coups in Burkina Faso in 2022. The current president, Ibrahim Traoré, has made fighting rebel groups a priority.

There were several attacks on 25 February, notably targeting an army unit in Tankoulou in eastern Burkina Faso, a rapid reaction battalion in Kongoussi in the north, and soldiers in the northern region of Ouahigouya.

In response, the army and members of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian force supporting the Burkina Faso army, launched operations that “neutralized hundreds of terrorists.”

Nguyen Khanh (according to Guardian, France 24)

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