Terrorist attack in Burkina Faso leaves 35 civilians dead

SANAA, Dec. 25 (YPA) – At least 35 civilians, mostly women, were killed on Tuesday after armed men attacked a military post, and some 87 gunmen and security personnel were killed in the clash, authorities in Burkina Faso said.

Militants attacked a military outpost in northern Soum Province on Tuesday morning, and the army said in a statement that several hours later its forces were able to repel the militants and seized a large quantity of weapons and motorcycles.

” The terrorists have killed 35 civilians, including 31 women, as they fled in a cowardly way,” the government said in a separate statement.

The statement added that 80 militants and seven security personnel killed in fighting earlier.

President Roch Marc Kabore declared two days of national mourning in the West African country in response to the attack, according to Reuters

The incident followed an attack by militants on a bus convoy carrying mine’s workers in November that killed about 40 people.

Burkina Faso was once a relatively quiet part of the Sahel region, but it has been hit by violence extended by criminal groups from its chaotic northern neighbor Mali.

E.M