BURKINA FASO MOSQUE ATTACK LEAVES DOZENS DEAD: REPORT

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Mon 26 February 2024:

The AFP news agency has been informed by local and security sources that scores of Muslims were killed in an attack on a mosque in eastern Burkina Faso on the same day as another horrific attack on Catholics attending mass.

A security source told the AFP on Monday that “armed individuals attacked a mosque in Natiaboani on Sunday around 5am, resulting in several dozen being killed.”

“The victims were all Muslims, most of them men” who had come for morning prayers, a local resident said by telephone.

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.”

Unverified reports on social media suggest the death toll from the mosque attack could be much higher than the count given by officials.

Since 2018, armed groups have attacked Natiaboani on a regular basis. Natiaboani is a rural settlement located around 60 km (37 miles) south of Fada N’Gourma, the largest town in Burkina Faso’s eastern region. It is near the Benin and Togo borders.

The source described it as a “large-scale attack” in terms of the number of assailants, who also wreaked substantial damage. The authorities are yet to comment on the attack.

At least 15 citizens were slain and two more injured in an attack on a Catholic church during Sunday service in northern Burkina Faso on the same day as the attack on the mosque, according to a senior church official.

The conflict that started in Mali in 2012 has killed over 20,000 people in Burkina Faso, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). Over two million people have been displaced, according to the UN.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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