In Burkina Faso, at least ten civilians were killed by armed men on Thursday, January 26, in two villages in the town of Dassa, in the province of Sanguié. The attack comes after security operations carried out by the Defense and Security Forces, accompanied by Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP).
“It was armed men on motorbikes who entered the town of Dassa and opened fire on the inhabitants”, explains a national from the region. At the same time, another group of assailants burst into another town, in the same province, and attacked the population.
According to another local source, these attacks are only reprisals against the populations, following operations by the Defense Forces and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland in the province of Nayala.
The Burkinabè army carried out a vast anti-jihadist operation in the neighboring province of Nayala where several terrorist bases were destroyed and equipment recovered. Operations that would have forced the suspected jihadists to retreat to the province of Sanguié, hence the pressure on the town of Dassa, about 140 kilometers west of the capital Ouagadougou.