Dozens killed in attacks on mosque, Catholic church in Burkina Faso: Report
New Delhi: Dozens of Muslims were tragically killed in an attack on a mosque in eastern Burkina Faso, the same day as another deadly attack on Catholics attending mass, local and security sources told AFP on Monday. Told.
The incidents unfolded on Sunday in different regions of the junta-ruled nation, which has been battling persistent jihadist violence for years.
“At around 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, armed individuals attacked a mosque in Natiyaboni, resulting in the deaths of several dozen people,” a security source told AFP.
A local resident said via telephone that the victims, mainly men attending morning prayers, were all Muslims.
Another source detailed that the attackers, described as “terrorists”, entered the city early in the morning, surrounded the mosque and opened fire on worshipers gathered for morning prayers.
“Many of them were shot, including an important religious leader,” the source said, according to an AFP report.
The attackers also targeted soldiers and members of the Volunteers for Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian group that supports the military. The source described it as a “large-scale attack” in terms of the number of attackers, who also caused significant damage.
Natiaboni, located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Fada N’Gourma, the main city in Burkina’s eastern region, has seen repeated attacks by armed groups since 2018.
Also on the same day as the mosque attack, at least 15 civilians were killed and two others were wounded during an attack on a Catholic church in northern Burkina Faso, while worshipers were attending a Sunday Mass, according to a senior church official. Had gathered for collective prayer.
Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, priest of the Dory diocese, said in a statement that the “terrorist attack” occurred in the village of Essaken as people gathered for Sunday prayers.
Essaken village is in what is known as the “Three Borders” region, in the north-east of the country, near the common borders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Burkina Faso, ruled by a military junta led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré since 2022, experienced its second coup in less than a year, driven by discontent over the government’s inability to curb jihadist violence.
Burkina Faso is located in the vast Sahel region, which has been battling a growing violent insurgency since Libya’s civil war in 2011 and the Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012. The jihadist insurgency has spread across Burkina Faso and Niger since 2015, AFP reports. ,