OUAGADOUGOU: Around 20 people were killed in an attack on a gold mining site in northern Burkina Faso, security sources said Saturday, the latest in a spate of violence generally blamed on a jihadist insurgency.
The attack on Friday took place in Soum province not far from where alleged jihadists blew up a bridge linking two northern towns in mid-September.
“Armed individuals attacked the gold mining site at Dolmane… leaving around 20 dead, mainly gold miners,” one security source said.
Another security source confirmed the attack, adding that a number of people had been injured, without giving further details.
The West African nation has become part of a four-and-a-half year jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region.
Many of the attacks have been attributed to groups affiliated with al-Qaeda, and others to the so-called Islamic State group.
More than 585 people have been killed since early 2015, according to an AFP toll.
A week ago, 17 people, including a soldier, were killed in a weekend of attacks in the north.
On September 29, about 20 men on motorcycles attacked the village of Komsilga in Bam province, killing nine people, and burning shops and two car tyres. Later the same day, seven people were killed after armed individuals attacked the village of Deneon in the same province.
A third attack in Deou in Soum province saw a soldier killed during an attack on an army unit. – AFP