Sahel Edition

Burkina Faso: At least 12 civilians killed in northern village of KièF

Posted On 20 May 2023

Number of times this article was read : 1022

At least twelve civilians were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists in an area of western Burkina Faso bordering Mali, a local official and residents told AFP on Saturday. The village of Kie was attacked by “unidentified armed individuals on Friday evening”, a local official said on the condition of anonymity, reporting that at least a dozen people were killed. Local residents also confirmed the attack.

The attackers came in “large numbers (and) surrounded the village”, said one resident, who added that some homes were set on fire. The latest attack adds to a bloody week for the impoverished landlocked Sahel state, which is struggling with a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

Around 20 people were killed in a series of raids Thursday on villages in the country’s troubled north, sources said. And there were reports Friday that another 20 people had been killed in separate attacks in eastern Burkina Faso. Armed men on Monday raided the village of Kaongo in the southeastern province of Koulpelogo, killing at least 11 people including two women and children.

Two days later the neighbouring village of Bilguimdoure was targeted, “leaving around 10 dead”, a local official said. More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have died in the insurgency, according to NGO estimates, while at least two million people have fled their homes and more than a third of the country lies outside the government’s control. Anger within the military at the mounting toll triggered two coups  last year.

AFP

More on the Sahel

West Africa: Jihadist Attacks Intensify in Northern Benin Amid Cross-Border Insurgency Pressure$

Jihadist attacks in northern Benin have intensified in recent weeks, with militants linked to JNIM claiming a deadly assault on a military position near the Niger border and carrying out additional raids on security posts along the country’s volatile frontiers with Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The violence underscores how northern Benin has become part of a wider cross-border insurgency spilling south from the central Sahel, even as authorities bolster Operation Mirador and try to prevent armed groups from entrenching themselves on Beninese soil.

Desert Locusts Stir Fresh Worries in North-West Africa$

Small desert locust swarms recently detected along the western Sahara corridor have prompted stepped-up monitoring across parts of North and West Africa, where shifting rainfall can quickly turn quiet desert areas into launchpads for wider infestations.

Mali Army, Russian Allies Accused of Executing Civilians Near Mauritania Border$

Seven Malian refugees traveling from Mauritania were allegedly executed by Malian soldiers and Russian Africa Corps personnel near Ahl El Kory, close to the Mauritanian border, after their vehicles were stopped on March 6. Local sources say the unarmed Fulani civilians were shot or had their throats cut, while other passengers were beaten, questioned as suspected jihadists, then released.