An attack targeted the populations of Balavé, located around twenty kilometers from Solenzo in the northwest of the country. Armed men burst into this town on the evening of December 14 and opened fire on residents. For the moment, no official report, but several sources speak of dozens of deaths. The survivors took refuge in Solenzo.
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According to testimonies from some survivors, the attackers arrived around 7 p.m. on Thursday evening. “ As soon as they entered the commune, they started shooting in all directions », Explains a man, still in shock. The attackers paraded with their motorcycles in the town until early morning, he continues.
After their crime, these armed men returned to the scene the next day. A witness explains having seen around ten lifeless bodies and assures that these alleged terrorists set fire to homes, businesses and looted the property abandoned there by the populations in their flight. “ They left with hundreds of head of cattle », assures this witness.
Several survivors reached the town of Solenzo to take refuge. A year ago, the Burkinabè army carried out an operation to reconquer several communes including Solenzo, Kouka and Balavé, in this region of the Boucle du Mouhoun. The president of the transition, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, went there to congratulate the soldiers.