The number of people displaced after the terrorist attack that occurred on the night of June 11 to 12 in northern Burkina Faso, in which 86 people died, exceeds 21,000 people, the authorities of this African country reported today. The latest provisional figures published by the National Emergency and Rehabilitation Council (CONASUR) of the Government of Burkina Faso account for 21,173 displaced persons, more than 62% children, of whom more than 36% are under 5 years of age.
According to data cited by the Spanish agency EFE, 77% of the displaced came from the attacked town, Seytenga, located about 40 kilometers from Dori, the capital of the Sahel region, and about 10 kilometers from the border with the Republic of Niger. . But among the displaced there are people from a total of 24 cities in the region.
The spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Matthew Saltmarsh, estimated on Friday (when the displaced were around 16,000) that more people were expected to arrive in the coming days, in addition to the around 360 citizens who had already crossed the Tillabéri region in Niger, “joining the 15,500 Burkinabe who were forced to flee.”
“The IDP crisis in Burkina Faso is one of the fastest growing in the world, with the number of IDPs reaching 1.9 million at the end of April, according to government figures,” said Saltmarsh. According to a report published on June 16 by the Coalition of Citizens for the Sahel (a group of 49 civil society organizations from the Sahel and West Africa that is supported by international non-governmental organizations), an average of eight civilians are killed. every day in attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
The attack on Seytenga occurred on the night of June 11-12, when gunmen invaded the city and left 86 dead, according to the Burkinabe government, a figure that the opposition raises to 150, citing local sources.
Following the attack, the government declared 72-hour national mourning and President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba – who has led the country since last January’s coup – promised retaliation against the attackers.
Burkina Faso has been the target of frequent Islamic extremist attacks since April 2015, carried out by groups linked to both Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. The region hardest hit by insecurity is the Sahel, which borders Mali and Niger, although ‘jihadism’ has also spread to other neighboring areas such as the Boucle du Mouhoun region (West) since 2017 and the eastern region of the country, since 2018.
In November 2021, an attack on a police post caused 53 deaths (49 policemen and four civilians), which generated protests demanding the resignation of the then president, Roch Kaboré. On January 24, the military seized power in a coup, the fourth in West Africa since August 2020, and deposed the president.
Source: Observadora
