At least ten civilians killed in an alleged jihadist attack in central-western Burkina Faso

Jan. 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –

At least ten civilians have been killed in an alleged jihadist attack in the Center-West region of Burkina Faso, the scene of recent activity by the Burkinabe Army and paramilitary formations of the so-called Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP).

The attack occurred specifically in two towns in the town of Dassa, Sanguié province, on Thursday the 26th, according to local sources to Radio France Internationale (RFI).

Residents identified the assailants as “armed men who entered the towns on motorcycles and opened indiscriminate fire against the towns.” According to his account, the assailants were looking for members of the VDP paramilitary forces but the residents refused to provide them with any information in this regard.

This attack has also been interpreted as a reprisal against the large anti-jihadist operation carried out recently in the neighboring province of Nayala and which forced the terrorists to withdraw to Sanguié and, specifically, to the town of Dassa, which is only 140 kilometers west of the country’s capital Ouagadougou.

Burkina Faso, ruled by a military junta since the January 2022 coup against then-president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, has experienced increased insecurity since 2015. The junta is now headed by Ibrahim Traoré, who starred in September a coup that was considered a “palace coup” against the hitherto leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

The continuous attacks in the country, carried out by both the Al Qaeda affiliate and the Islamic State affiliate in the region, have also contributed to an increase in inter-communal violence and have caused self-defense groups to flourish, to which the Burkinabe government has added to ‘volunteers’. The deterioration of security has caused a wave of internally displaced persons and refugees to other countries in the region.