Residents of eastern Burkina Faso spoke on Monday February 27 of a ” horror movie “ by describing the attack, to the balance sheet for the time unknown, of their commune by presumed jihadists the day before, where they say to have been abandoned by the army. “A horror movie happened in our city, Partiaga”said a group from this locality in a statement read to the press in the capital Ouagadougou.
According to these residents, who relate testimonies of their relatives, survivors, Sunday around 5:30 a.m. (local and GMT), armed groups attacked Partiaga, destroying most of the administrative buildings and burning concessions and grain granaries.
According to this group, which mentioned deaths but was unable to give a precise assessment of the attack, this tragedy occurred when the army had abandoned the village. Despite the call for help from the inhabitants “for more than two weeks” the defense and security forces left the locality being “aware of having abandoned the populations”they claimed.
More than 10,000 dead since 2015
According to these villagers, only the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), civilian auxiliaries of the army, remained to defend the village. “It’s a massacre. The village was completely ransacked and burned. The terrorists surrounded the locality for days before launching their attack”confirmed a survivor of the attack, contacted by telephone by AFP, deploring “several deaths”. A security source quoting survivors also mentioned ” deaths “without being able to give a precise assessment.
On Monday, the collective of Partiaga residents launched a “Vibrant appeal to the authorities” To “undertake strong actions and large-scale operations in the Eastern region and establish an accurate assessment” drama. Monday afternoon, the authorities of Burkina Faso had not expressed themselves on this attack.
Last week, the army announced a ” temporary report “ of 51 dead in an ambush targeting soldiers on February 17 in the far north of the country. It was the deadliest attack since Captain Ibrahim Traoré came to power during a putsch at the end of September 2022. And last Monday, at least fifteen soldiers died, still in the north, near from the Malian border, according to security sources.
Burkina Faso has experienced a resurgence of jihadist violence since the beginning of the year, with several dozen deaths – civilians or soldiers – almost every week. The violence has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 2015 according to NGOs and some two million displaced people.