Dozens of Muslims were tragically killed in an assault on a mosque in eastern Burkina Faso and on the same day as another deadly attack on Church while the Catholics attending mass as reported by local and security sources on 26th February.
Attack On Mosque:
Natiaboani is in Burkina Faso’s troubled eastern region, located approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Fada N’Gourma, where multiple armed groups operate, has witnessed recurrent assaults by armed groups since 2018. .
The attack on the mosque happened during the early morning prayer around 5:00 a.m. The men armed with guns surrounded the mosque in Natiaboani town. A local resident told the AFP news agency that all the victims were muslim and most of them were men.
Another local source said, “The terrorists entered the town early morning. They surrounded the mosque and shot at the faithful, who were gathered there for the first prayer of the day. Several of them were shot, including an important religious leader.”
The assailants also targeted the soldiers and the members of VDP (Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland). It’s a civilian force group supporting the military.
The source also added that its a “large scale attack” considered the number of assailants and who also caused substantial amount of damage. Unverified reports on social media points that the number of death from the mosque attack could be much higher than the count given by the officials.
Attack On Church:
Essakane village is known as the “three borders” zone as it’s near the common borders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
On the same day of the mosque attack, minimum of 15 civilians were killed in an attack on a Catholic church while the worshippers gathered around for the Sunday mass at Essakane village. The assailants targeted the village of Essakane leaving 12 individuals dead on the site, while three others died due to the injuries during the medical treatment. Additionally two more civilians got injured during the attack, according to senior church official, reported to AFP.
Military, Muslims & Catholics targeted:
There is no link which has been formally made between these two attacks. But Burkina Faso’s privately owned “L’Observateur Paalga” newspaper has questioned whether they were part of a coordinated plot.
Seeing attacks on religious figures became common in Burkina Faso. A priest got kidnapped from the northern town of Djibo five years ago is still missing. And again the main imam of Djibo was kidnapped by armed men and found dead days later in 2021.
Humanitarian workers say Burkina Faso is one of the world’s most-neglected crises. Years of wild insecurity has forced more than two million people from their homes, and the UN estimates that a quarter of all children under five have impaired growth resulting from hunger. And also the NGOs including the ACLED analysis group say around 20,000 people in Burkina Faso have been killed in the jihadist violence.
Burkina Faso is part of the vast Sahel region, which has been locked in a battle against rising violent extremism since Libya’s civil war in 2011, followed by an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012. Now, it is ruled by a military junta led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in 2022. The military seized power two years ago promising to win the battle against insurgents but the violence still continues.
