Security sources told AFP that jihadists attacked on Saturday in Burkina Faso’s troubled north, killing at least three troops and eight civilian auxiliary personnel.
According to one version, the soldiers were ambushed while on patrol with the auxiliaries in the Bouroum neighborhood.
Two persons were still missing, according to a second source who also confirmed the attack and suggested the death toll would increase. According to the source, the ambush took place in the Namentenga province close to Silmangue.
After Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had previously taken control in January, was overthrown on September 30, and a day after Captain Ibrahim Traore, 34, was named as his replacement as interim president, comes the most recent attack.
Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, has experienced numerous coups since gaining independence from France in 1960.
The most recent ones stem from discontent among army personnel over the terrorist insurgency that surged over the region from neighboring Mali in 2015.
Over a third of the nation is not under official control, there have been thousands of deaths, close to two million people have been evacuated.
Traore has sworn to honor Damiba’s promise to return the country to civilian rule by July 2024 at the latest.
Traore, like Damiba before him, justified the coup by arguing that the government wasn’t doing enough to combat the Islamists.
After a weekend of violent protests, during which Russian flags were also flown and the French embassy was threatened, Damiba escaped on October 2.
