Published on: 06/13/2022 – 01:52
In Burkina Faso, gunmen attacked the population of Seytenga near the Niger border on the night of Saturday June 11 to Sunday June 12 in what closely resembled reprisals and after an attack on that community’s gendarmerie brigade on Thursday, June 9th. No official report is currently available, but multiple sources speak of dozens of deaths. According to the government spokesman, intervention units have been deployed to the area.
With our correspondent in Ouagadougou, Yaya Boudani
According to witnesses, armed men have been harassing people in Seytenga for several days. After the attack on the Gendarmerie Brigade on Thursday June 9, the armed forces came as reinforcements and searched the area. Accompanied by police and gendarmerie forces, they spread across Dori.
According to the government, these gunmen stormed into Seytenga township to attack civilians. This time they came back in large numbers, says a reliable source. “They made no distinction. They systematically killed everyone they came across,” said a local resident.
“Given the complexity of the situation,” no assessment can be made at this time, the government spokesman said. A former elected official from the region who was contacted at the scene says that “following these reprisals by armed groups, witnesses counted multiple bodies in a single neighborhood in Seytenga.”
This situation has led to the displacement of the population of this municipality to Dori, about forty kilometers away. The injured were taken to health centers for treatment.
More than 2,000 residents began leaving the city on Friday after security forces withdrew and then as gunmen returned to attack the city, according to a local elected official. Especially women and children, who sometimes walked for hours to avoid the main street. Their stories are dramatic, says Yahiya Amin Dicko, a Dori resident who works for a civil society organization there.
The armed groups arrived in the town of Seytenga around 5 p.m., and that is when the slaughter began. Since it looks like they shot indiscriminately on sight, especially the men who could see them. Mass movements have increased since Saturday evening. We have hundreds of displaced people. We can’t have an exact number. The armed groups have issued an ultimatum to evacuate the site, promising to come back and finish the work if they still find people in Seytenga. People saw many dead, people with whom they shared their everyday lives lying on the ground. And that’s scary. Today, people are in a rather difficult psychological state because they are afraid and even wonder if Dori will be enough if they do not have to go somewhere else. Because Dori seems very close to the scene of the drama, and it’s unclear what could happen to them tomorrow.
In Burkina Faso, residents of Seytenga flee after an attack in Dori
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