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13 killed in suspected extremist raid in Burkina Faso

Wednesday, 02 January 2019 5:36 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 January 2019 5:40 PM ]

The file photo shows security officials standing alert at a barrier close to the site of a terrorist attack in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, August 15, 2017. (AFP)

Thirteen people died when suspected extremists attacked a village in central-northern Burkina Faso, triggering a deadly bout of ethnic violence, local sources and a security official said on Wednesday.

Gunmen on motorbikes attacked the village of Yirgou in Barsalogo district on Tuesday morning, "killing six people, including the village chief" and his son, the security official said.

A Barsalogo resident, reached by phone by AFP from the capital Ouagadougou, said local villagers, who were from the Mossi ethnic group, then attacked a nearby camp of herders from the nomadic Fulani group, "accusing them of being accomplices of the terrorists."

"Seven Fulani herders were lynched and their homes were burned down," the security official said.

The mayor of Barsalogo district, Abdoulaye Pafadnam, said the 13 dead were buried at nightfall on Tuesday, but added it was possible the toll was even higher.

The file photo, taken on October 30, 2018, shows Burkinabe gendarmes sitting on their vehicle in the city of Ouhigouya in the north of Burkina Faso. (AFP)

"A precarious calm has returned to the village, thanks to the presence of defense and security reinforcements," he said.

"However, there are reports going around of armed groups coming from the Malian border, and these have caused a mobilization of the Koglweogo," Pafadnam said, referring to a self-defense group.

"A crisis committee has been set up to get everyone around the table to talk and avoid the worst," he said.

Burkina on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in provinces within seven of the country's 13 administrative regions, four days after 10 gendarmes were killed near the border with Mali.

A state of emergency gives additional powers to the security forces to carry out searches of homes and to restrict freedom of movement.

Burkina Faso lies in the heart of the vast Sahel.

(Source: AFP)

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