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DAKAR, April 8 (AP) At least 44 people have been killed by Islamic extremists in multiple attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Saturday.
Jihadists attacked the villages of Kourakou and Tondobi in Seno province, the lieutenant colonel said. Colonel AS Sahel governor PF Rodolphe Sorgho said in a statement.
Sorgho called the attacks on Thursday and Friday “despicable and barbaric” and said the government was stabilizing the situation in the area. He appealed to people to remain calm.
The West African country has been overwhelmed by jihadist violence linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which has killed thousands and displaced two million in six years.
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The fighting has frustrated and divided the once-peaceful people, leading to two military coups last year, with every junta leader vowing to stop the attacks.
But the violence is intensifying and spreading as jihadists blockade villages, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from moving freely.
In February, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for killing more than 70 soldiers, wounding dozens and taking five hostages in an ambush on a military convoy in the north.
The attacks followed weeks of jihadist attacks across the country that killed at least 32 people, including soldiers and civilians.
According to the United Nations, the violence has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the country’s history, forcing one in five citizens, or about 4.7 million people, to require humanitarian assistance. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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