Twelve Burkina Faso soldiers were killed and eight wounded in an ambush by suspected rebels near the West African country’s border with Mali, where gunmen also attacked several villages and killed 51 people in northern part of the country.
Burkina Faso’s Communications Minister Ousseni Tamboura “strongly condemned the barbaric attack” on Sunday near the village of Dounkoun in Toeni commune in Sourou province, the latest in a series both near the borders with Mali and Niger.
“Members of the ground forces and the rapid intervention force GARSI were ambushed” in the northwest Boucle du Mouhoun region, Tamboura said in a statement on Monday. “The provisional toll indicates 12 soldiers fallen and eight wounded.”
The statement added seven soldiers went missing after the ambush but were found at dawn on Monday, including one who had been wounded in the thigh, though he was in stable condition.
“Clean-up operations are under way and the wounded have been evacuated,” said the minister, who is also a government spokesman.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a tweet that “we continue to wage without concession the war the obscurantist and barbaric forces have imposed on our country”.
The president also paid “tribute to our fallen soldiers in Toeni and prompt recovery for the wounded”.
A security source told the AFP news agency that the attack happened about 3pm (15:00 GMT), adding vehicles had been destroyed or captured during the ambush sprung by what he called rebel fighters.
“It’s certainly revenge for the death of two jihadist leaders who were active in the same Boucle du Mouhoun region, who were neutralised [on Saturday] by the armed forces,” the source added.
He identified the two leaders as Sidibe Ousmane, also known as Mouslim, and spiritual leader Bande Amadou, the source said.
They were killed by a special army unit following exchanges of fire between Diamasso and Bouni, in Kossi province, the government said on Sunday in a statement.
At least 51 killed in Mali rebel attacks: Officials
Gunmen have attacked several villages in northern Mali, “shooting at anything that moved” and killing at least 51 people in apparent retribution for the recent arrest of several rebel leaders, authorities said.
The latest violence took place in the volatile area along the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso where fighters linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda are active.
A note from the Asongo district administrator to the governor of the Gao region, seen by the Reuters news agency, said houses were ransacked and burned to the ground and herds of livestock carried away.
“Provisional toll is 51 killed, several other injured,” the note said.
No group has yet taken responsibility for the attacks. Mali’s army spokesman Colonel Souleymane Dembele confirmed the attacks on Monday but gave no further details.
The attackers arrived on Sunday around 6pm local time (18:00 GMT) in the communities of Ouatagouna and Karou, local official Oumar Cisse said. “Most of the victims were in front of their houses; others were going to the mosque,” he told The Associated Press.
A local official, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, told the AFP news agency that “20 civilians were massacred in Karou. Fourteen civilians were killed in Ouatagouna, and other civilians were killed in the hamlet of Daoutegeft”.
The assailants arrived on motorbike, taking the villagers by surprise, the official said.
