ABC Net | May 31, 2020
At least 35 people have reportedly been killed after separate attacks on a cattle market and a humanitarian convoy in Burkina Faso during a particularly violent weekend in the volatile country.
Key points:
- Deaths from unrest in Burkina Faso have reportedly increased by 40 per cent already this year
- No-one has claimed responsibility for the weekend’s attacks
- Attempts to subdue Islamic extremists have lead to escalating retaliatory attacks between other groups
Violence linked to Islamic extremists, and the local defence groups and military fighting them, is surging across the West African country.
About 2,000 people died last year, and large swaths of land are increasingly being cut off due to insecurity.
Already deaths have increased more than 40 per cent this year, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
The country has been battling armed groups with links to Al Qaeda and Islamic State since 2017.
The weekend attacks came after 15 others died in the north when extremists ambushed a convoy of traders on Friday that included children, authorities said.
“While it’s unclear who is behind these new massacres, civilians are one more time caught in the middle of a violent conflict and remain the main victims,” said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow and Sahel researcher at Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.
Gunmen on Saturday opened fire at a cattle market in eastern Burkina Faso’s Kompienga province, killing at least 25 people in the weekend’s deadliest attack, witnesses and the Government said.
Authorities said the attack was carried out by extremists.
However, one survivor told AP he recognised the assailants as being members of the Burkinabe military.
“People were terrified and started running away,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
He also said the death toll was more than 50 victims, double the official figure given.
An army official, who was not authorised to speak to journalists, denied that the military was responsible.
Attack on humanitarian convoy in country’s north leaves 10 dead
During a separate attack in the country’s north also on Saturday, a humanitarian convoy came under fire in Sanmatenga province, claiming the lives of five civilians and five security forces, according to the Government. An untold number of people went missing.
Armed groups “targeted a humanitarian convoy returning from Foube after delivering supplies”, a government statement said.
A further 20 people were wounded in the convoy attack, it said.
No group has claimed responsibility.
Violence becoming increasingly complex
The victims of Friday’s attack in Loroum province were being escorted by a local defence group that was likely the target, according to a security report prepared for humanitarian organisations working in Burkina Faso.
Government spokesman Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said the attack was in response to increased efforts by the army to stem growing violence across the once-peaceful country.
Local defence groups and government security forces have been accused of targeting the Peuhl, or Fulani, ethnic group for its perceived support of the jihadists.
Friday’s attack was most likely in retaliation “for targeting the Fulani people”, said Siaka Coulibaly with the Center for Public Policy Monitoring by Citizens.
The violence is becoming increasingly complex amid the battle to stop the jihadists.
In April, the military reportedly killed 31 unarmed men in the country’s north, according to Human Rights Watch.