B’Faso reads riot act after deadly militant attack

BURKINABE Prime Minister, Christophe Dabire has vowed to deal with the culprits involved in the attack that took 160 people lives.

  Dabir said, “This deadly incursion (…) will not go unpunished,” after a meeting with the people of Solhan, who have taken refuge in Sebba, state capital of Yagha province, where he flew in a helicopter with five members of the government.

  “There is hope because we will reorganize ourselves to be able to provide the appropriate response to the situation,” he continued, before visiting the site of the attack.

  “The day after the attack, we took security measures and today this part of the territory is occupied by a number of forces that are doing a sweep,” the Prime Minister added.

  Meanwhile, on last week Friday night, armed men suspected to be militants attacked the village of Solhan in Yagha province (Sahel region), killing 132 people according to the government, while local sources put the death toll at160.

  In his comment, the Minister of Communication and Government Spokeman, Ousseni Tamboura , explained to discrepancy, “Unfortunately, we were able to add up the victims of the commune of Yagha and the commune of Markoye, since on the same night of June 4-5, attacks also took place in the commune of Markoye (13 dead) and in another locality (15 dead)”.

  “We were able to add up the victims of these different communes (132+13+15), who naturally make 160 dead,” he said.

  On Monday, the governor of the Sahel region, Colonel Salfo Kaboré, banned the use of two- and three-wheelers in the area “until further notice.

  Burkina Faso, a Sahel country bordering Mali and Niger, has been facing increasingly frequent and deadly jihadist attacks for six years.

  Security forces are struggling to stem the spiral of jihadist violence that has left more than 1,400 people dead and more than a million displaced since 2015.