DAKAR, Senegal, April 9 (Net) — At least 44 people were killed by Islamic extremists in multiple at-tacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Saturday.
Jihadis attacked Kourakou and Tondobi villages in Seno province, said Lt. Col. P.F Rodolphe Sorgho, governor of the Sahel region in a statement. Sorgho called the attacks on Thursday and Friday “despica-ble and barbaric” and said the government was stabilizing the area. He called on people to remain calm.
The West African nation has been overrun by jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s killed thousands and displaced 2 million people over six years. Fighting has frustrated and divided a once peaceful population, leading to two military coups last year with each junta leader vow-ing to stem the attacks.
But the violence is intensifying and spreading as jihadis blockade villages, preventing hundreds of thou-sands of people from moving freely.
In February, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for killing more than 70 soldiers, wounding dozens and taking five hostage, in an ambush on a military convoy in the north. A few weeks before that, jihadis killed at least 32 people, including soldiers and civilians, in multiple attacks across the coun-try.
The violence has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the country’s history, forcing one in five citi-zens —some 4.7 million people — to be in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Na-tions.
