At least 12 civilians killed in Burkina Faso extremist attack

At least twelve civilians were killed in an attack by suspected extremists in an area of western Burkina Faso bordering Mali, a local official and residents told AFP on Saturday.

The village of Kie was attacked by “unidentified armed individuals on Friday evening,” a local official said on the condition of anonymity, reporting that at least a dozen people were killed.

Local residents also confirmed the attack.

The attackers came in “large numbers (and) surrounded the village”, said one resident, who added that some homes were set on fire.

The latest attack adds to a bloody week for the impoverished landlocked Sahel state, which is struggling with an extremist insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015.

Around 20 people were killed in a series of raids Thursday on villages in the country’s troubled north, sources said.

And there were reports Friday that another 20 people had been killed in separate attacks in eastern Burkina Faso.

Armed men on Monday raided the village of Kaongo in the southeastern province of Koulpelogo, killing at least 11 people including two women and children.

Two days later the neighboring village of Bilguimdoure was targeted, “leaving around 10 dead”, a local official said.

More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have died in the insurgency, according to NGO estimates, while at least two million people have fled their homes and more than a third of the country lies outside the government’s control.

Anger within the military at the mounting toll triggered two coups last year.