Agence France-Presse:
About ten civilians were killed Friday in an attack by suspected terrorists gunmen in western Burkina Faso, security and local sources told AFP on Saturday.
A security source told AFP that “armed gunmen attacked last night (Friday) the village of Sara,” about 100 km from Bobo-Dioulasso, the second city in the country, saying that there were ten dead and a number of wounded.
For his part, a resident of the area told AFP that “nine bodies were buried on Saturday. However, two people also died of their wounds, bringing the death toll to 11.”
Another resident said that the “terrorists” entered the village around 20:00 (local time and GMT). “They opened fire on a group of people. Some of them were killed inside their homes and others were injured,” he added.
A second security source confirmed the attack, noting that search operations had been launched in the area as well as in “other areas targeted by armed groups,” without going into details.
Since 2015, Burkina has been witnessing a spiral of jihadist violence that appeared in Mali and Niger a few years ago and spread beyond their borders.
Seven years ago, the violence left more than 10,000 dead, between civilians and military personnel, according to non-governmental organizations, and more than two million internally displaced persons.
Since last September, Burkina Faso has been ruled by a military council headed by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power during a coup that was the second in eight months.
The government says the army controls 65 percent of the country’s territory.