Militants kill 31 women in Burkina Faso jihadist attack

It was a bloody Christmas Eve in Burkina Faso as suspected Islamist militants killed 35 civilians 31 of them women, in an attack on a military base and a town in the West African nation.

The country officials told BBC on Wednesday that seven soldiers and 80 militants were also killed as the army repelled the attack in Arbinda, northern Soum province.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has declared two days of national mourning in the landlocked West African country.

No group has so far said it was behind the attack.

The attack of “rare intensity” lasted several hours, Burkina Faso’s military said.

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“In their flight, the terrorists cowardly murdered 35 civilians, including 31 women, and injured six people,” government spokesman, Remis Dandjinou told journalists..

Earlier this month, at least 14 people were killed after gunmen opened fire inside a church in the east of the country. Jihadist attacks have increased in Burkina Faso since 2015.

Once relatively stable, Burkina Faso has descended into serious unrest, due to a home-grown insurgency and the spillover from jihadist militancy in Mali. Hundreds of people have been killed this year and a million displaced.

 

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