Burkina Attack Death Toll Rises to 32 in Security Forces’ Worst Loss Yet.
At least 32 people, including 28 military police officers and four civilians, were killed in Sunday’s attack on a police post in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Monday, increasing its earlier death toll of 20.
President Roch Kabore decreed three days of national mourning for the victims of the attack, which took place on Sunday morning near a gold mine in Inata and came two days after another raid in the area killed seven police.
The government said it was carried out by unidentified armed men. Burkinabe forces and civilians are regularly targeted by militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, particularly near the borders with Mali and Niger.
The militants’ insurgency across West Africa’s Sahel region has expanded in recent years, claiming thousands of lives, forcing millions from their homes and wearing down national forces.
Source: Reuters