At least 49 gendarmes and four civilians were killed Sunday in what is believed to be a jihadist attack on a Gendermari sect in Inata, north of Burkina Faso, according to a new government spokesman on Wednesday.
“We can create the following balance sheet: 49 genders died, 4 civilians (killed). Fortunately we found 46 genders,” Oceani Tambura said after the panel of ministers.
An earlier report on Monday killed at least 28 civilians and four civilians.
The death toll could rise further, according to local sources, according to the Gendermary Division of Inada, a city in the Sahel region and near the border with Mali.
The group was attacked Sunday by “numerous armed men” circling “in several pick-ups and motorcycles”, according to a security source who spoke of “long shootings” between attackers and genders.
This is one of the deadliest attacks on security and security forces since Burkina Faso faced jihadist operations that began in the country six years ago.
Mr Tambura said he had been removed from the post of commander of the Armed Forces in the north of the country after the attack.
Burkina Faso has been facing routine and deadly jihadi attacks since 2015, especially in the northern and eastern regions, in the so-called “three borders”, along the borders with Mali and Niger, both countries facing armed action. Jihadists.
The violence, sometimes mixed with inter-ethnic clashes, killed about 2,000 people and forced 1.4 million people to flee their homes.
On Tuesday, hundreds of people protested in several cities across the country, demanding the resignation of the executive branch for “failing to end the terrorist attacks.”
National mourning has been declared in Burkina Faso from Tuesday to Thursday.
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