Burkina Faso, terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso have caused more than 300 victims

ROMA – Even Pope Francis, after the Angelus, he condemned the recent raids by jihadist militias in Burkina Faso, which cost the lives of at least 300 people, including many women and children. They were massacred while digging trenches to escape the bloody assaults of the militiamen.

The assault of the jihadists on motorcycles. The African country is the epicenter of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in countries in the central Sahel belt of West Africa. Widespread violence and the long-term impact of climate change are the main causes. According to the World Food Programme WFP – the UN food agency, which supports an average of 100 million people in 78 countries around the world – the response must be scaled up as soon as possible if lives in Burkina Faso and the region are to be protected and saved.

What happened. On August 24th and 25th – we also learn from Vatican News – there have been two of the worst terrorist attacks in the country’s history, costing the lives of over 300 people, according to unofficial sources. The attack on Saturday, August 25, the bloodiest, was carried out by about a hundred jihadists who broke into the town of Barsalogho, 30 km north of Kaya, the capital of the Central-North region. Among the victims (140 wounded) there are women, children and elderly people. According to some Catholic-inspired humanitarian organizations, at least 22 of the dead were Christian faithful. Survivors of the massacre said that the attack lasted hours and began when more than 100 jihadists appeared on motorcycles and opened fire with automatic weapons on civilians and soldiers who were busy digging defensive trenches to protect themselves from terrorist attacks.

The claim. The massacre in Barsalogho, claimed by a group linked to al-Qaeda, was also condemned in recent days by the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, who expressed “his solidarity with the transition authorities in their fight against terrorism” urging them “to ensure that those responsible for these despicable actions are held accountable”.

The second attack: with 26 people’s throats slit in a church. Bee Acs reports that on Sunday, August 25, Islamist militants attacked the village of Sanaba, diocese of Nouna, in the west of the country. According to what was reported Acsa group of militants surrounded the Christian community, rounded up the population and tied up all the males over the age of 12 and in general anyone who was considered, at that moment, an opponent of the jihadist ideology. The terrorists then led the men to a nearby Protestant church and there they slaughtered 26 of them, including several Catholics.