The West African Sahel nation has been struggling to contain armed groups for a decade.
Around 170 people were “executed” in attacks on three villages in northern Burkina Faso a week ago, the local prosecutor announced, as violence escalates in the country.
Ali Benjamin Coulibaly said in a statement on Sunday that the preliminary death toll was “approximately 170 people executed” in attacks on the villages of Komsirga, Nodin and Soroe in Yatenga province on February 25. He said he received it.
Prosecutors in the northern town of Wahiguya said the attack injured others and caused property damage, but did not assign responsibility to any group.
He said his office had ordered an investigation and appealed to the public for information.
ongoing violence
Survivors of the attack told AFP news agency that dozens of women and young children were among the victims.
Local security sources cited by AFP said the attack was separate from deadly incidents that occurred on the same day at a mosque in the rural town of Nati Abouani in eastern Burkina Faso and a church in the northern village of Esakan.
Authorities have not yet released an official death toll from these attacks, but a senior church official said at the time that at least 15 civilians were killed in the Natiaboani attacks.
About half of Burkina Faso is outside government control as armed groups have ravaged the country for years.
The violence has killed around 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million people in the volatile region of one of the world's poorest countries.
Anger at the state's inability to end the security situation played a major role in two military coups in 2022.
The current head of state, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has prioritized a strong security response to take back land from rebels.
Ali Kabre, an independent journalist based in the capital Ouagadougou, told Al Jazeera that the attack was a sign that the insurgents “remain influential in the country” after being outgunned by targeted forces. He said it was highly likely that he was trying to show that. Attack them with regular air strikes.
coordinated attack
There were a number of attacks on February 25, particularly against the military detachment of Tankou Arou in the east, the quick reaction battalion of Kongushi in the north, and soldiers in the northern region of Wahiguya.
In response, members of the military and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian force that supports the military, carried out an operation that was able to “neutralize hundreds of terrorists,” according to a security source cited by AFP. It started.
Earlier in the week, Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said the series of attacks were “coordinated”.
“This change in the enemy's tactical approach is due to the destruction of not only training camps but also terrorist bases and actions taken to deplete the enemy's financial sources and supply routes,” Sana said.
Mosques and imams have been targets of attacks by armed groups in the past.
Churches in Burkina Faso were also occasionally targeted and Christians were kidnapped.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), 439 people were killed in such violence in January alone.