An attack in the center-east of Burkina Faso has resulted in the death of five Burkinabe police officers. In response, the authorities launched a counter-attack, leading to the neutralization of at least 40 attackers, the army said on Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon, an attack took place targeting members of a police mobile intervention force near Diougo-Yourga in Koulpelogo province, close to the Togo border, army said.
That attack “cost the lives of five police officers. Four others were evacuated and treated for injuries”, the military added in a statement.
“In response, at least forty terrorists were neutralised and equipment seized,” it said.
On August 7, Koulpelogo witnessed another fatal incident, as approximately twenty individuals lost their lives in Nohao near the town of Bittou, security sources and local residents reported.
During mid-July, Captain Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso’s transitional president who assumed control in a September 2022 coup, condemned the escalating instances of assaults on civilians, stating that the militants were exhibiting “cowardly” behavior.
The underlying motivation behind the country’s two recent coups has been frustration over the inability to curb a jihadist insurgency that originated in neighboring Mali in 2015 and spilled over into Burkina Faso.
Militant attacks have resulted in over 16,000 casualties, including civilians, troops, and police, according to data from an NGO. This toll includes over 5,000 deaths just since the beginning of this year.
The internal displacement crisis in Burkina Faso has reached a distressing scale, with over two million people displaced within the country.