At least 50 civilians were killed in an attack in northern Burkina Faso by suspected Islamist militants, according to government spokesman Lionel Bilgo, in one of the worst skirmishes since the January military takeover.
After the village of Seytenga was attacked overnight Saturday, “the army has so far uncovered 50 bodies,” Bilgo said, adding that the death toll “may climb.”
He informed a press conference that “relatives (of the victims) had returned to Seytenga and may have taken bodies away.”
Last week, deadly violence erupted in Seytenga.
On Thursday, eleven gendarmes were slain, prompting a military action that resulted in the deaths of roughly 40 jihadists, according to the army.
“The (weekend) bloodshed was sparked by army retaliation,” Bilgo explained.
“The country has been damaged, but the army is doing its job,” says the general.
Humanitarian organizations in the area said that 3,000 people had fled the community and were being accommodated in other towns.
An insurgency in the landlocked Sahel state has claimed over 2,000 lives and driven 1.9 million people to flee their homes over the last seven years.
Assailants suspected of having ties to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State organization have been leading attacks in the country’s north and east.
The latest raid is one of the deadliest since a military coup in January, when colonels enraged by the insurgency’s progress deposed the elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the new strongman, promised right once that security would be his first priority.
After a brief respite, attacks continued, resulting in the deaths of approximately 300 civilians and military personnel in the last three months.
Two strikes startled the country before the military took over.
The first occurred in June in Solhan, in the northeast, while the second occurred in November in Inata, in the north, killing 57 gendarmes.
The Inata attack, which resulted in the largest single-day loss of security soldiers in the insurgency’s history, was particularly alarming.
It targeted gendarmes who were about to be relieved and had requested assistance prior to the attack, claiming they were out of food and ammunition.
Hundreds of residents gathered in the eastern town of Pama on Saturday, claiming that the authorities had “abandoned” their territory despite a terrorist siege that began in February.
Other towns in the north and east, such as Djibo, Titao, and Madjoari, are under de facto jihadist blockades, necessitating replenishment under military escort.
“Our troops are up against a significant task – they are constantly under fire,” Bilgo said.
