By Chad Williams 
Aug 6, 2021
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CAPE TOWN – A group of gunmen attacked several villages in Oudalan Province, northern Burkina Faso, late on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people, according to reports.
According to local media reports, suspected jihadists operating in the region were thought to be behind the attack.
The Burkinabe defence ministry confirmed in a statement that the populations of the villages of Dambam, Guevara and Tokabangou, which are located about 10km from Markoye near the Niger border, were attacked.
According to the government statement, 11 civilians, 15 soldiers and four members of a government-backed civilian militia were among the fatalities, reported news broadcaster Al Jazeera.
More than 10 attackers were also killed, the statement said.
International media reported that livestock was stolen and properties were burned, according to the news website Africanews.com.
In what is considered the West African country’s worst attack in years, over 100 civilians were killed in an attack in northern Burkina Faso in June when terrorists raided the village of Yagha in the northern Sahel region and opened fire on the villagers, according to international media reports.
According to the United Nations, more than 850 people have been killed and 1.1 million people have been displaced since 2015 in terrorist attacks in the country.
The latest government figures show that during the first six months of the year, 237,000 people fled their homes for other parts of the country, which is a sharp increase over the 96,000 registered during the second half of 2020, said the UN in a report.
African News Agency (ANA)