OUGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Armed men killed at least 100 civilians in a rural district of northern Burkina Faso over the weekend, a local and a security source said on Monday.
The attackers struck on the night between Saturday and Sunday in Seytenga commune, part of Seno province, which lies in borderlands where militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are waging an insurgency.
One security source told Reuters at least 100 people were killed.
A local source who did not wish to be named said the provisional death toll stood at 165.
The United Nations condemned the attack that “claimed many victms” in a statement on Monday and called on authorities to bring perpetrators to justice.
The government is expected to provide a death toll later on Monday.
Violence linked to Islamist insurgents has killed thousands and displaced millions across Burkina Faso and neighbouring Mali and Niger since 2015.
(Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga and David Lewis; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Estelle Shirbon)
