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16 die in attack on Grand Mosque in Burkina Faso

Saturday, 12 October 2019 5:00 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 12 October 2019 5:36 PM ]

The file photo, taken on March 3, 2018, shows a Burkinabe soldier in Ouagadougou. (By AFP)

Gunmen have gone on a deadly shooting spree at a mosque in northern Burkina Faso. Over a dozen people have been killed.

The Grand Mosque in Salmossi witnessed the death of at least 16 people on Saturday, AFP reported.

Thirteen of the victims died on the spot and three others succumbed to their wounds later. Two more people were in a critical condition.

The act of terror drove locals from their homes.

Since 2015, several hundred people have lost their lives in terrorist attacks that have turned increasingly violent especially in the north and the east of the African country. The extremists are linked to either al-Qaeda or the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

Terrorists mostly use guerrilla hit-and-run tactics with road mines and bomb attacks.

PressTV-29 killed in twin attacks in Burkina Faso

Two attacks in Burkina Faso have killed at least 29 people in a region prone to extremist violence.

The terror groups have not spared the capital Ouagadougou. The city has been the scene of deadly attacks three times. In March 2018, one such assault on the military headquarters killed eight people.

Some 300,000 people have fled their homes and nearly 3,000 schools have closed. The impact of the terrorist attacks on an overwhelmingly rural economy is rising, disrupting trade and markets.

Roughly 55 to 60 percent of Burkina Faso's population is Muslim, with almost a quarter Christian. The two communities generally live in peace.

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