Raiders kill at least a dozen worshippers at Burkina Faso church
At least 15 people have been killed and two others injured in a “terrorist” attack on a Catholic church during Sunday mass in Burkina Faso, a senior church official has said.
Calling for peace and security in Burkina Faso, the vicar general of the Dori diocese, Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, denounced “those who continue to wreak death and desolation in our country”.
“We bring to your attention a terrorist attack which the Catholic community of Essakane village was the victim of … while they were gathered for Sunday prayer,” Sawadogo said. The provisional toll was 15 killed and two wounded, he added.
Essakane village, where the attack took place, is in what is known as the “three borders” zone in the north-east of the landlocked west African country, near the borders with Mali and Niger.
This is the latest in a series of atrocities blamed on jihadist groups active in the region, some of which have involved attacks on Christian churches while others have involved the abduction of clergy.
Burkina Faso is part of the vast Sahel region, which has been locked in a battle against rising violent extremism since Libya’s civil war in 2011, followed by an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012. The jihadist insurgency spilled over into Burkina Faso and Niger from 2015.
When Capt Ibrahim Traoré seized power in 2022, it was the country’s second coup in less than a year – both triggered in part by discontent at the government’s failures to quell the jihadist violence.
About 20,000 people in Burkina Faso have been killed in that violence, while more than 2 million of the nation’s population of 24 million have been displaced.