Death Toll in Burkina Faso Rises To 132, 40 Wounded

The government has announced the death of at least 139 people in the northern part of Burkina Faso. The assailants struck during the night on Friday, killing and burning homes of the residents of the village of Solhan in Yagha province, which borders Niger.

The overnight assault which claimed the life of up to seven children is the deadliest recorded in years in Burkina Faso.

The UN has condemned “the heinous attack” and called on countries to step up the fight against “violent extremism”.

No group has claimed responsibility so far.

Burkina Faso has now declared 72 hours of mourning in the country while help has been sent to the wounded.

Since 2015, the West African country has struggled to fight back against increasingly frequent and deadly attacks from groups linked to al-Qaeda and more recently to ISIL (ISIS). The attacks first started in the north near the Mali border, but have since spread to other regions, particularly in the east, causing one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises.

Some 1.2 million people in Burkina Faso have been forced to flee their homes because of the long-running conflict, as armed groups step up attacks on the army and civilians despite the presence of thousands of French troops and other international and regional forces across the Sahel.