In what is said to be one of the worst militant attacks in years, armed men raided the Burkina Faso village of Solhan at the weekend, killing at least 160 people.
According to the BBC, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The broadcaster added that violence along the border regions with Niger and Mali has become increasingly common.
Burkina Faso’s President Roch Kabore declared a 72-hour national mourning period following the killings, which included 20 children, and described the attack as “barbaric” in a tweet, adding that “we must stand united against the forces of evil”.
MaliAct, a Malian digital news publication, reported that Solhan is at a crossroads where people from various tribes and nationalities live together in search of gold.
“The large numbers of attackers arrived on around 20 motorcycles around 2am,” said Hamadi Boubacar, the mayor of the neighbouring town of Sebba.
“They mainly attacked the mining site, adjacent to the village of Solhan… The attackers were ruthless and killed anyone they saw in their path,” he said.
Boubacar added that Solhan is a big village with more than 30,000 residents.
The country faces a security crisis as armed groups continue to carry out raids and kidnappings. On Friday, 14 people were reportedly killed 150km north of Solhan, and 30 others in an attack in the east, last month.
Meanwhile, 137 people died in co-ordinated attacks on villages in the Tahoua region in south-western Niger, which followed an assault on 58 villagers in the Tillabery region.
African News Agency (ANA)