On July 7, suspected jihadists killed 16 civilians in Namentenga province, Burkina Faso, according to the East Coast Daily.
The victims were volunteer auxiliaries supporting the army.
The attackers set fire to homes, motorcycles, and the local market. A resident reported an additional attack in a village nearby that claimed two civilian lives. Four additional civilians were killed in Burkina Faso’s western region, in a town called Fo.
The violence plaguing Burkina Faso is the world’s most neglected crisis today, leaving “one in four Burkinabè in need of aid,” according to the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) annual list of neglected displacement crises.
Since 2015, militant attacks linked to al-Qaida and ISIS in Burkina Faso have been on the rise. The violence seen in Burkina Faso is part of a broader trend of jihadism which has displaced 2.3 million people in West Africa’s Sahel region.
As of 2023, the country has not successfully curbed the spread of violence and still struggles with one of the bloodiest jihadist insurrections in the Sahel. The violence and unrest have created the worst humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso’s history. — International Christian Concern
