At least 30 people have reportedly been killed by suspected jihadists in Burkina Faso.
Reports by AFP and other international media outlets cited security sources as reporting the killings.
According to reports, the killings were done in an attack on Monday, May 3, 2021, in eastern Burkina Faso.
The attack is considered one of the worst so far in Burkina Faso’s history.
“A large number of armed individuals attacked the village of Kodyel in the district of Foutouri this morning, causing several dozen deaths in the civilian population,” AFP quoted an unnamed regional security source as saying.
“It happened early this morning when some people were still in their homes. Dozens of men burst into the village and set houses on fire, while others stood watch and shot at people indiscriminately,” a security source is quoted as saying.
A member of the VDP civil defence militia in Foutouri district also estimated “around 30 dead, men and women” — although “the toll remains provisional, because everyone fled the village”, according to report.
Some 20 people are believed to have also been injured in the attack.
Burkina Faso like its neighbours Mali and Niger, has suffered jihadist attacks since 2015.
On New Year’s Day 2019 in northern Burkina, an attack led to the killing of at least 50 people in intercommunal violence that broke out after unidentified attackers killed six including a village chief.
In November 2019, 37 were killed and 60 wounded in an ambush against a convoy of workers for a Canadian mining company in the east.
By Melvin Tarlue