Rebel fighters carried out separate attacks on Sunday and Monday in which 15 men were killed after a minibus was stopped.
At least 28 people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed in two attacks by armed attackers in Burkina Faso, a regional governor and military said in separate statements. .
The military said on Monday that a combat unit in Falagountou, in the north of the country near the border with Niger, was attacked and 10 soldiers, two volunteer fighters and one civilian were killed. .
The military said the bodies of 15 attackers were found after the attack.
In a separate statement on Monday, Jean Charles dit Yenapono Some, governor of the country’s Cascades region in the south near the border with Ivory Coast, said the bodies of 15 men, all civilians, was found after an attack on Sunday.
The governor said armed men stopped two vehicles carrying eight women and 16 men. He said the women and one man were freed.
“On January 30, the bodies of the victims, showing signs of being shot, were found near the village of Linguekoro,” the governor said in the statement.
The latest murder occurred when Burkina Faso — and its neighbors in Mali and Niger — fighting armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIL) that have occupied territory in arid and mostly rural areas north of the country, executing hundreds of villagers and forcing nearly 2 million to evacuate. The militants have blockaded towns and villages, exacerbating the food crisis.
On Thursday, AFP news agency reported that at least 10 civilians were killed in two attacks in the town of Dassa in west-central Burkina Faso, about 140km west of the capital Ouagadougou.
With more than a third of Burkina Faso now outside of government control, frustration in the military over its handling of the security situation caused two coups last year and has increased political instability and strained relations with the former colonial power Francefought against armed groups in the Sahel region.
‘Down with French policy in Africa’
Thousands of protesters gathered in the capital Ouagadougou on Saturday to support the ruling military government’s decision to order France to withdraw its troops within a month, an army of about 400 soldiers currently stationed in the country. this to support the fight against armed militants.
Packing up the National Square in central Ouagadougou, protesters held up banners bearing slogans including “Down with imperialism”, “Down with France’s policy in Africa” and “Move forward” for Burkina’s sovereignty”.
Lazare Yameogo, spokesman for the Pan-African Revolutionary Movement, told the crowd: “We don’t want any more foreign military bases on our land. “We will continue to take precautions until Burkina Faso is liberated from Western imperialism,” he added.
French military presence in its former colonies in the Sahel came under close scrutiny as anti-French sentiment in the region increased. Military government in neighboring country Mali also ordered the French army to leaveand the last group left Malian territory in August 2022.
France said on Thursday that it was recalling its ambassador from Burkina Faso, a day after agreeing to a request to withdraw troops from the country.
Rinaldo Depagne of the International Crisis Group think tank said on Saturday that the decision to push French forces out of Burkina Faso was motivated by a number of factors.
“The government wants the country to defend itself and promote patriotism, finding new external partners for easier access to military equipment and satisfying its political base,” said Depagne. said in a statement.
