Accessibility links

Breaking News

29 Killed in Two Attacks in Burkina Faso


Presidential guard soldiers are seen on an armored vehicle at Laico hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, September 20, 2015.
Presidential guard soldiers are seen on an armored vehicle at Laico hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, September 20, 2015.

Officials in northern Burkina Faso say at least 29 people were killed in two separate incidents Sunday.

Government spokesman Remis Dandjinou said, in a statement, at least 15 people were killed when a truck carrying people and goods "rode over an improvised explosive device in the Barsalogho area."

Fourteen people were killed when a food convoy of trucks came under attack in Sanmatenga province, according to the spokesman.

The French news agency AFP reports that locals sources said many of the dead in the convoy were the drivers of the vehicles carrying provisions for people displaced by fighting.

"Military reinforcements have been deployed and a thorough search in under way," said Dandjinou.

Millions of people in Burkina Faso are facing an unprecedented humanitarian emergency because of growing hunger, instability and displacement, the World Food Program warned recently.

The United Nations reports escalating fighting, some fueled by ethnic and religious beliefs, has forced more than 237,000 people to flee their homes.

Jihadists have frequently launched attacks on Burkina's military.

A former French colony, Burkina Faso in one of the poorest countries in the world.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG