Nineteen killed in Burkina Faso’s volatile north

AFP, 10TH JUNE, 2019 -Nineteen people died in an attack on a village in the troubled north of Burkina Faso, a security source said Monday.

“Several dozen armed men carried out an attack on the district of Arbinda, shooting several people dead,” on Sunday, a local official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A security source said “19 bodies have been found”. The official said the attack took place “between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm (local and GMT) when a group of assailants opened fire on locals”.

An emergency meeting was under way Monday to discuss the situation, the official said.

The security source said on Sunday morning three vehicles had been stopped and burnt and a driver killed before the attack. Arbinda has witnessed a spate of deadly violence in recent months despite an operation to clear the area of jihadists.