Three villages attacked

Bloodbath in Burkina Faso: 170 people “executed”

Police forces in Burkina Faso

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

At least 170 people were killed in attacks on three villages in Burkina Faso in West Africa a week ago, according to new findings by the public prosecutor's office. The responsible public prosecutor declared on Sunday that he had been informed last Sunday about "massive deadly attacks" in the villages of Komsilga, Nodin and Soroe in the northern province of Yatenga. 

At least 170 people had been "executed" and many more injured. A team of investigators traveled to the affected villages four days later to "collect all the evidence", continued public prosecutor Aly Benjamin Coulibaly.

Dozens of women and small children among the dead
In view of the seriousness and circumstances of the incidents, the criminal investigation department had been instructed to clarify the facts. Survivors of the attacks told the AFP news agency that dozens of women and small children were among the victims.

According to local security sources, the attacks on the three villages in northern Burkina Faso are not identical to other attacks on the same day in the east of the country, in which gunmen attacked Muslim and Christian worshippers in various places and killed dozens of them.

Last Sunday, gunmen opened fire on Muslims in a mosque in the eastern town of Natiaboani. On the same day, a Catholic church in the north of the country was also attacked where Christians had gathered for mass.

Burkina Faso, which has been ruled by the military since 2022, has been regularly rocked by jihadist violence for years, which is attributed to groups with links to al-Qaeda and IS. Mosques and churches have repeatedly been targets of attacks. Christians have also been victims of kidnappings.

Non-governmental organizations such as the analysis group ACLED assume that around 20,000 people have fallen victim to violence in the West African country since 2015. According to the United Nations, more than two million people have been displaced.