MILITANTS KILL 114 IN DEADLIEST BURKINA FASO ATTACKS SINCE 2015

Suspected jihadists have massacred at least 114 civilians in Burkina Faso’s volatile north in the deadliest attacks since Islamist violence erupted in the west African country in 2015.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore denounced an attack near the borders with Mali and Niger where jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have been targeting civilians and soldiers.

“We must remain united and solid against these obscurantist forces,” Kabore said, condemning the massacre as “barbaric” and “despicable”.

The worst attack occurred during the night of Friday to Saturday when “armed individuals staged an incursion” into Solhan, a security source said.

“The toll, which is still provisional, is about 100 dead”, the source said with the government confirming the toll.

Assailants struck around 2am local time against a position of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Motherland (VDP), an anti-jihadist civilian defence force which backs the national army, before attacking homes and carrying out “executions”, a local source said.