Local prosecutor Lamine Kabore said on Sunday, citing data from police in the town of Ouahigouya, that some 60 civilians were slain on Friday in northern Burkina Faso by individuals donning military uniforms.
He said that following the assault on the hamlet of Karma in Yatenga province, which is located in the border region close to Mali and is controlled by Islamist organisations with ties to al Qaeda and the Islamic State and has been the scene of several attacks for years, an inquiry had been opened.
Nothing further about the assault was disclosed in the statement.
According to Human Rights Watch, since 2022, armed groups have increased their assaults on civilians while state security services and volunteer defence forces have engaged in a series of violent counterterrorism operations.
According to the administration, 40 civilians were murdered and 33 others were injured on April 15 in an assault on the army and volunteer forces in the same area of northern Burkina Faso close to Ouahigouya.
In Mali in 2012, Islamists seized control of a Tuareg separatist movement, sparking the start of the region’s unrest. Since then, the violence has extended to Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands of people and uprooting more than 2.5 million more.
