Around 40 people have been killed in a fresh wave of attacks in Burkina Faso, in areas where militant attacks are rife, sources said.
In the most recent violence, around 20 people were killed in a series of raids on villages in Burkina Faso’s troubled north, security sources and local residents told AFP on Friday.
Armed men attacked three villages early on Thursday in the country’s northern Yatenga province.
“Yesterday at around 5:00 am (local and GMT), armed groups attacked the villages of Pelle, Zanna and Nongfaire”, a local resident said on Friday, giving a toll of 25 people killed.
There were “many others wounded”, the resident said.
Another resident said “the assailants, who came on motorbikes, were chased by volunteers (civilian auxiliaries of the army) and soldiers”.
The attack was confirmed by a security source, who put the death toll at “around 20”, adding that search operations were underway to find the assailants.
