Africa News with AFP
Photo: Africanews/Domingo Alamba/The Associated Press
AfricaNews. December 19, 2022
At least two Burkinabe soldiers and six civilians were killed on Saturday in two separate attacks in northern and eastern Burkina Faso, AFP learned on Monday from local and security sources.
The first attack took place near Bouroum, in the northern province of Namentenga, where "a team of the defense and security forces (FDS) on a mission hit an improvised explosive device," a security source told AFP.
"Unfortunately, two soldiers were killed and five wounded, who were evacuated to receive proper care," the source said.
The second attack, also on Saturday, occurred in the village of Kokodé, on the Tendokogo-Bittou highway, in the east-central part of the country, near Ghana.
“Armed people intercepted a public transport bus, also causing fatalities,” said the security source.
Another security source said that "six civilians were killed by the assailants, who also robbed the bus passengers.
“Among the victims is an important economic operator in the region,” said a member of the region's merchants union, confirming the balance of the attack.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been regularly plagued by jihadist attacks that have killed thousands and forced some two million people to flee their homes.
These attacks by groups linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda against soldiers and civilians have increased in recent months, mainly in the north and east of the country.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the transitional president who emerged from a military coup on September 30 - the second in eight months - has set himself the objective of "reconquering the territory occupied by these terrorist hordes."
Between December 1 and 10, 39 "terrorists" were killed in an anti-jihadist operation in northwestern Burkina Faso, the military said.
Called "Feleho" or "recover property" in the local Bwamou language, this operation aimed at "securing the province of Banwa" in the Boucle du Mouhoun region (north, bordering Mali), allowed the liberation of a dozen towns besieged by armed groups, according to the army.