Africa

Dozens killed in suspected jihadist attack in Burkina Faso

Ngozika Onah
Capitaine Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso’s new president, attends the ceremony for the 35th anniversary of Thomas Sankaraís assassination, in Ouagadougou, on October 15, 2022. – Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power a fortnight ago in a coup in Burkina Faso, attended a ceremony on October 15, 2022 to mark the 35th anniversary of the assassination of revolutionary president Thomas Sankara, an AFP reporter noted. (Photograph: OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)
At least “several dozen” soldiers and civilian auxiliaries have been killed in a suspected jihadist attack in eastern Burkina Faso, local and security sources reported to AFP on Sunday.

According to a security source in Tapoa province, an army detachment from the main city of Diapaga was targeted in a “violent attack” on Friday. The victims included regular army soldiers and civilian volunteers, with several others wounded, the source added.