Places of worship and religious leaders across Burkina Faso have been targeted by rebel attacks.
An attack on a mosque in eastern Burkina Faso left dozens of Muslims dead on the same day as another deadly attack on Catholics attending mass, local and security sources told AFP communicated to the correspondent.
“At around 5am on Sunday, armed groups attacked a mosque in Nati Aboani, killing dozens of people,” a security source told AFP on Monday.
“All the victims were Muslims, most of them men,” a local resident said by phone, who had come for morning prayers.
Another local source said: “The terrorists entered the town early in the morning. They surrounded the mosque and opened fire on the believers who had gathered there for the first prayers of the day. Several of them were shot dead. , including important religious leaders.
Soldiers and members of the Volunteers for Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian force supporting the army, were also targeted “by these hordes that came in large numbers,” the official said.
Sources described it as a “massive attack” in terms of the number of assailants and caused considerable damage. Authorities have not yet commented on the attack.
Natiaboani is a rural area about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Fada Ngurma, the main city in eastern Burkina, which has been subject to regular attacks by armed groups since 2018. Close to the border with Benin and Togo.
On the same day as the attack on the mosque, a Catholic church was attacked during Sunday Mass in northern Burkina Faso, killing at least 15 civilians and injuring two others, a church official said.
Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, pastor of the Diocese of Dori, said in a statement that the “terrorist attack” occurred in the village of Esakan as people were gathering for Sunday prayers.
The village of Essakane is located in the so-called “tri-border” area in the northeast of the country, near the common border between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), approximately 20,000 people died in Burkina Faso in 2012 due to violence that spilled over from Mali. The United Nations says more than 2 million people have been displaced.
Several military detachments were also attacked in various parts of eastern and northern Burkina Faso on Sunday. Security sources said hundreds of “terrorists” were “neutralized” in response operations to the attack.
Places of worship and religious leaders have been targets of attacks by rebel groups in the past.
In March 2019, a priest from Dzibo was kidnapped and remains missing. In February 2018, Catholic missionary Cesar Fernández was murdered in the center of the country.
In August 2021, the grand imam of the northern town of Djibo was found dead three days after armed men stopped the bus he was traveling in and kidnapped him.
