Burkina survivors recall ‘horror movie’ of assault by militants
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (AFP):
Villagers in eastern Burkina Faso have spoken of how a rebel attack turned into a “horror movie” and accused the army of abandoning them.
The final death toll from the assault remains unknown, with locals reporting several dead.
“A horror movie unfolded in our village, Partiaga,” a residents’ group said in a statement read out to reporters in the capital Ouagadougou.
On Sunday morning, armed men destroyed administrative buildings and set fire to grain stores in the village.
Despite appeals from local people over more than two weeks, security and defence forces left the area “knowing they had abandoned the population”, the statement said.
The villagers said only civilian auxiliaries were present to try to defend them.
“It was a massacre,” one survivor reported.
“The village was totally ransacked and burned down.
“The terrorists surrounded the place for days before launching their attack,” he added.
The local residents’ group urged the authorities to “take strong action and undertake major operations in the eastern region” and establish an exact death toll.
Burkina Faso authorities have yet to comment on the attack.
Burkina Faso is battling an insurgency that spread from Mali in 2015.
Around 40 percent of the nation’s territory lies outside government control.
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