Ouagadougou, Aug 20 (EFE).- At least five policemen died this Saturday in a “terrorist” attack in the Center-East region of Burkina Faso, where the reaction of the security forces caused the death of forty attackers, as reported today the Burkinabe Army.
The Seventh Group of Mobile Intervention Units (GUMI) of the National Police was attacked by a “group of terrorists” near the town of Diougo Yourga, in the province of Koulpelogo, on the border with Togo, the Armed Forces said in a statement.
“The incident, which occurred while the unit was carrying out a reconnaissance mission, cost the lives of five policemen. Another four, injured, were evacuated and treated,” the official note said.
“In the response, at least forty terrorists were neutralized and equipment was seized. Search operations have begun to secure the area,” the Army added.
More than twenty people died on the 6th in an alleged jihadist attack committed in the town of Nahao, in the neighboring province of Boulgou, and directed against merchants who were traveling on a highway, local residents informed EFE.
Burkina Faso has suffered frequent jihadist attacks since April 2015, perpetrated by groups linked to both Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, especially in the north of the territory.
The country suffered two coups in 2022: one on January 24, led by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, and another on September 30, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who currently leads the country.
The two seizures of power by the military came after discontent between the population and the Army over the jihadist attacks, which have forced the displacement of more than two million people, according to the latest government data.
On June 1, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned that, for the first time, Burkina Faso tops the list of the most neglected displacement crises in the world, while humanitarian aid and attention has been redirected towards Ukraine after the Russian invasion. EFE
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