Thousands fled after Burkina Faso massacre - UN
GENEVA - More than 3, 300 people, most of them children, fled their homes in Burkina Faso's volatile north following the country's worst massacre in years, the United Nations said yesterday.
The UN refugee agency said thousands of children were among those who fled Solhan village, near the border with Niger and Mali, after gunmen stormed in on Saturday, massacring civilians.
UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said at least 138 men, women and children had been "executed" in the attack, while nearly 40 people were seriously injured.
Local sources however have put the number of dead to at least 160, marking the deadliest attack since Islamist violence erupted in the country in 2015. The slaughter in the early hours of Saturday followed the slaying of 14 people late on Friday in the village of Tadaryat in the same region, where jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have been targeting civilians and soldiers.
Baloch told journalists in Geneva: Fearing for their lives, over 3, 300 people fled to the nearby villages of Sebba and Sampelga, among them more than 2, 000 children and over 500 women.
"They arrived with few or no belongings," he said, adding that most "were generously welcomed by local families who are sharing what little they have."
Baloch said that the new arrivals urgently needed water, sanitation, shelter, plus essential aid items and medical care.
UNHCR and its partners were building 200 shelters and providing assistance, but said more resources were needed to scale up the response.
Baloch said that the massacre came just a few weeks after gunmen shot at UNHCR and other aid organisation vehicles on the road between the city of Dori and the Goudoubo camp, housing some 12, 200 Malian refugees and asylum seekers.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has struggled to fight back against increasingly frequent and deadly jihadist attacks from groups including the Group to Support Islam and Muslims and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Since 2019, violence in the country has forced more than 1.2 million people to flee their homes, according to UNHCR numbers.