Militants kill more than 130 civilians in Burkina Faso village attack

At least 132 civilians were killed in the worst militant attack in Burkina Faso in recent years, the government said on Saturday, after armed assailants laid siege overnight to a village in the jihadist-plagued northeast.

The attackers struck during the night on Friday, killing residents of the village of Solhan in Yagha province, bordering Niger. They also burned homes and the market, the government said in a statement.

It declared a 72-hour period of national mourning, describing the attackers as terrorists, although no group has claimed responsibility. Another 40 residents were wounded, government spokesperson Ousseni Tamboura later told reporters.

The United Nations said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was outraged by the attack, whose victims included seven children.

Despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeepers, attacks by jihadists linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in West Africa’s Sahel region have risen sharply since the start of the year, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, with civilians bearing the brunt.

In May, two Spanish journalists and an Irish citizen on an anti-poaching patrol were killed after being kidnapped in a national park near Burkina Faso’s border with Benin.