In Burkina Faso, a new attack killed at least 33 people, all civilians, Thursday, May 11, in a village located in the west of the country.
It is the village of Youlou, in the department of Tcheriba, located in the province of Mouhoun. The announcement was made on Saturday, May 13, by the governor of the Boucle du Mouhoun region. In a press release, Babo Pierre Bassinga denounces “a cowardly and barbaric attack”.
The attack took place on Thursday around 5:00 p.m. local time. “Armed men targeted the peaceful citizens busy with their market gardening activities by the river”, affirms the governor who reports an already very heavy provisional toll, 33 civilians killed. Babo Pierre Bassinga specifies that “Security actions are in progress”.
Joined by AFP, local sources confirm the presence, in the area, of men “heavily armed”, traveling on motorcycles. These assailants would have fired on the market gardeners without distinction, relate these same sources which specify that the victims were buried on Friday.
The country is still regularly the target of attacks by suspected jihadists, in certain areas, in particular the East, the Centre-East and the North, where several attacks have taken place in recent weeks, causing many deaths, particularly among civilian auxiliaries of the army and the military.
A sign that the security situation is still extremely tense, the state of emergency in force since March in 8 regions of the 13 regions of the country was extended on Friday by 6 months by the National Assembly.
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