OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso
A large number of Islamic extremists launched an attack on Burkina Faso’s military in the country’s east, killing 33 soldiers and wounding a dozen others, the army said Friday.
The assault took place
Thursday in the Gourma province town of Ouagarou, according to an army
statement.
“During particularly intense
combat, the soldiers of the detachment showed remarkable determination when
faced with an enemy that came in very large numbers,” the statement said,
adding that 40 jihadis also were killed.
Fighters linked to al-Qaida
and the Islamic State group have waged a violent insurgency in Burkina Faso for
seven years. The violence has killed thousands of people and displaced around 2
million.
It also has divided a once
peaceful nation and fueled frustration that led to two coups last year. The new
junta leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, has promised
to secure the country. But some civilians say they also fear Burkina
Faso’s security forces, which they accuse of extrajudicial
killings and the disappearance of untold numbers of others accused of
supporting the militants.
Meanwhile, attacks are
intensifying and spreading as jihadis blockade villages, preventing hundreds of
thousands of people from moving freely.
Earlier this month, gunmen
killed at least 40
members of Burkina Faso’s security forces in the northern part of the
country, and dozens of others were wounded.
Local residents have accused
the security forces of brutally
killing civilians in the north. The United Nations has called for a
thorough and independent investigation into what it called the “horrific
killing of civilians.”
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