At least ten civilians have been killed in a suspected 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 Fatherland (VDP).
The attack occurred specifically in two villages in the locality of Dassa, province of Sanguié, last Thursday 26th, according to local sources to Radio France Internationale (RFI).
Residents identified the assailants as «armed men who entered the localities on motorcycles and opened indiscriminate fire on the villages». According to their account, the assailants were looking for members of the WTP paramilitary forces but the residents refused to provide them with information.
This attack has also been interpreted as a retaliation against the large anti-jihadist operation recently carried out in the neighboring province of Nayala and which forced the terrorists to retreat to Sanguié and specifically to the locality 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 d’état against the then president, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, has experienced increased insecurity since 2015. The junta is now headed by Ibrahim Traoré, who staged an uprising in September that was considered a ‘palace coup’ against the hitherto leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The continuous attacks in the country, the work of both Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates in the region, have also contributed to an increase in inter-community violence and have led to the flourishing of self-defense groups, to which the Burkinabe government has added ‘volunteers’. The deteriorating security situation has led to a wave of internally displaced persons and refugees to other countries in the region.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
