“Ten soldiers and 32 civilian auxiliaries of Burkina Faso’s army were killed on Saturday and Sunday in two attacks in the north of the country, which this week declared a “general mobilisation” against recurring jihadist violence.
On Saturday, a “military detachment and Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP, civilian auxiliaries to the army) was the target of an attack by unidentified armed men” at around 4pm, near Aorema, some 15km from Ouahigouya, according to a statement from the governorate of the northern region, published on Sunday.
The army said that “the death toll is forty fighters” (“eight soldiers and thirty-two VDP”) and added that “at least 50 terrorists” had been “neutralised” in a “response”, notably from the air.
On Sunday, “early in the morning”, “another attack targeted the military detachment of Kongoussi (Bam province, Centre-North region)”, the same source said, reporting that “two soldiers” were killed and “some twenty terrorists neutralised”.
The governorate of the North region said in its statement that “33 wounded” from the first attack were “in a stable condition” and “being treated at the regional university hospital of Ouahigouya”, capital of the North region. The army writes that “two wounded” from the second attack have also been “evacuated for treatment”.
