Drought, hunger and terrorist groups: Burkina Faso is a crisis-ridden country. Now 50 people have died – a similar attack had only taken place a few days ago.
In the West African Sahel state of Burkina Faso, around 50 civilians were killed in an attack in the east of the country on Thursday.
According to an army spokesman, the victims came from the Madjoari region. They were on their way to the town of Nadiagou when the gunmen opened fire on them at a bridge. The army is in the process of securing the area. The army initially gave no further information on the perpetrators. Just a few days ago, eleven soldiers were killed in a similar attack in eastern Burkina Faso.
The country with 21 million inhabitants belongs to the Sahel region and has been in a severe humanitarian crisis since 2019. Armed groups, some of whom have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia or the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, are active there and in the neighboring countries of Mali and Niger. Protracted droughts and famines also make things difficult for the country, which is impoverished despite rich gold deposits. The military has ruled there since a coup in January.
