AT LEAST 40 civilians were killed in a militant attack in the northern Burkina Faso town of Djibo at the weekend, the UN Human Rights Office said Tuesday.
Burkina has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of militant violence perpetrated by rebels affiliated with the Militant State group and Al-Qaeda, which are also hitting neighbouring Mali and Niger.
“A large number of Jama’at Nusrat wal Muslimeen (JNIM) fighters attacked a military base, homes and Internally Displaced People’s camps in the city Djibo, in the Sahel region, killing at least 40 civilians and injuring more than 42,” the UN agency said.
The agency said attacks on civilians were “inexcusable and must stop” with those behind them apprehended and judged at a fair and independent trial.
It added that deliberate targeting of civilians constituted a “war crime”.
Djibo, near the border area straddling Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, has been besieged by militant groups active in the region for months.
Several convoys seeking to resupply the town have been attacked.
Burkinabe security force sources told AFP that militant had carried out a massive attack Sunday on an army post at Djibo and that the army had killed dozens of attackers.
The sources added soldiers had been killed but did not mention civilian casualties.
A security source told AFP the Djibo army post had been the “target of a sizeable militant attack perpetrated by armed terrorist groups”, adding an unspecified number of soldiers “paid the supreme sacrifice to hold Djibo”.
The source added the army had inflicted “heavy losses on the enemy”.
Another security source put the number of attackers in the hundreds, saying they were beaten back when the army called in air support.
The source said the waves of assailants had arrived on motorbikes and pickup trucks and carried out an attack lasting more than three hours.