At least 138 civilians died from Friday night to Saturday in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the bloodiest episode in this African country since the start of a wave of jihadist violence in 2015. The attacks, committed within hours of each other, took place in the so-called “three-border” area, between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger , a region subjected to violence by jihadists, both affiliated with Al Qaeda and with the state. Islamic (IS) .

“On the night of Friday to Saturday, armed individuals carried out a murderous raid in Solhan, in Yagha province,” a source from the security services told AFP, describing the first attack. “ Several wounded succumbed to their injuries and new bodies were found. The balance, still provisional, was 138 dead “, declared on Saturday night a local deputy, who specified that” the bodies were buried in mass graves. ” In addition there would be dozens of injured. “In addition to the high human balance, the worst recorded to date, houses and the market were burned ” in Solhan, said another security source.

The attack began around 02:00 local time, first against the post of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), a paramilitary militia, and then against civilians. The authorities decreed a national mourning of 72 hours , starting at midnight on Saturday, June 5.

Solhan, a small town about 15 kilometers from Sebba, the capital of Yagha province (near the Malian border), has been the scene of numerous attacks in recent years. On May 5, the armed forces launched an operation in the northern and Sahel regions to combat jihadist attacks, which since 2015 have caused more than 1,400 deaths and forced a million people from their homes.

Defense Minister Chériff Sy had gone on May 14 with members of the military leadership to Sebba, where they declared that the situation was under control. In a message of condolences to the families of the victims, Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré denounced a “barbaric attack” and “ignoble”.

“We have to remain united and in solidarity with these obscurantist forces,” he added.

During Saturday, lines of people fled towards Sebba , described the local deputy under anonymity. “These displacements have also caused victims because three people died on the Solhan-Sebba axis, as the cart that was transporting them exploded when it rolled over an artisanal mine.”

Second attack on Tadaryat

In addition to that attack, on Friday night another took place in a village in the same region, Tadaryat, in which at least 14 people were killed, including a member of the militias. Those attacks came a week after two more in the same area, leaving four dead in total, including two members of the VDP.

The VDPs were created in December 2019 to support the army in surveillance, information and protection tasks, after a 14-day military training. Those civilians have paid a high tribute for that support, with more than 200 killed since 2020, according to an AFP tally.

Jihadist groups have staged high-profile attacks in Burkina Faso in recent years.

The capital, Ouagadougou, was the scene of an attack on January 15, 2016 in which 30 people, mostly Westerners, were killed in a hotel and restaurant. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed it.

In March 2018, another group linked to Al Qaeda, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), killed eight soldiers and injured 85 people. In 2019, an attack carried out against the military base and the city of Arbinda, near the border with Mali , involving some 200 individuals, caused 42 deaths (35 civilians and seven soldiers).

On January 25, 2020, Islamists massacred 39 people in a market in Sigadji village (north). On April 26, 2021, two Spanish journalists and an Irishman were executed while making a report together with a patrol that fought against poaching, in the east of the country.

Spain expresses its solidarity

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Arancha González Laya , this Saturday showed her solidarity with the government and people of Burkina Faso for the terrorist attack in which at least 132 civilians have died. “All our solidarity with the government and people of Burkina Faso in the face of the terrorist attack that leaves more than 100 people killed – Spain will continue to support efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Sahel,” the minister said in a publication in Twitter

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was “outraged” by the massacre of civilians in the volatile north of Burkina Faso, his spokesman said Saturday, speaking of the deadliest attacks since Islamist violence broke out in the country. of West Africa in 2015. “The Secretary-General is outraged by the massacre earlier today of more than a hundred civilians, including seven children, in an attack by unidentified assailants on a village in the province of Yagha, in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, “Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.