40 killed in two terrorist attacks in NW Burkina Faso

About 40 people, including army auxiliaries, were killed over the weekend in two terrorist attacks in northwestern Burkina Faso, sources said Tuesday.

The first attack targeted an armed convoy near Bourasso in the Boucle du Mouhoun region Saturday, said the regional government in a statement Sunday without specifying the death toll.

A local source told Xinhua that about 20 people, including army auxiliaries, were killed in the attack, while the Burkina Information Agency said 18 fighters who were injured are under medical care.

Local media reported that about 20 others were killed Sunday in Wakara in the same region in another attack.

Several tens of terrorists were killed by defense and security forces responding to these attacks, according to a security source.

In a speech delivered Tuesday before the deputies, Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tambela declared the creation of six rapid intervention battalions, six gendarmerie legions, and two new air bases as well as the recruitment of 6,000 soldiers.

The head of government reaffirmed Burkina Faso’s commitment to fighting terrorism and “never to negotiate with armed terrorist groups.”

Since 2015, insecurity in the West African country has claimed many lives and displaced thousands of others.

Source » english.news.cn/