A day of mourning was observed on Wednesday in Burkina Faso’s Kaya Diocese, following a terrorist attack in the town of Barsalogho that killed nearly 200 people, including 22 Christians. Source: Crux.
Local media reported that residents of the Barsalogho community, located around 30 kilometres north of Kaya – the capital of the Centre-Nord region – were digging defensive trenches to protect themselves against terrorist attacks, when more than 100 jihadists appeared on motorcycles and opened fire with automatic weapons on civilians and soldiers alike on August 24.
Women, children and elderly people were among those killed. The Al Qaeda-linked militant group known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) is suspected to have carried out the murders.
Kaya serves as the final military stronghold between JNIM fighters and the capital, Ouagadougou. Following the attack, several soldiers are unaccounted for as JNIM continues its advance, capturing large areas of territory in the conflict-ridden West African nation.
Burkina Faso has one of the largest Christian populations in the Sahel, making up nearly a quarter of the population.
Saturday’s attack was the third in Burkina Faso this month, and is the bloodiest in the country’s history.
On August 4, armed men stormed Nimina village and abducted over 100 men between the ages of 16 and 60. Their whereabouts is still unknown. On August 20, terrorists struck the villages of Mogwentenga and Gnipiru, forcing the population to flee.
The Kaya bishop described it as a “tragedy of an unprecedented scale in our region, and indeed in the whole of Burkina Faso, since the terrorist attacks began” in 2015.
In a statement on Tuesday, the bishop expressed his spiritual closeness with the affected families, and urged them not to despair, but turn to the God of Mercy for help.
Bishop Nare declared August 28 a Diocesan Day of Mourning for what he called “our martyrs”.
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Burkina Faso diocese holds day of prayer after nearly 200 people killed in Jihadist attack (By Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux)
