21 killed in gunmen attack on village in Burkina Faso
Seven members of the National Defense Volunteers units and 14 civilians, including a woman, were killed in an armed attack on the town of Gorom-Gorom in Burkina Faso
Local media in Burkina Faso announced Sunday that 21 people were killed in a gunmen attack that targeted the town of Gorom-Gorom near the Essakane gold mine.
Among the victims were seven members of the National Defense Volunteers units and 14 civilians, including a woman.
It is noteworthy that the National Defense Volunteers units were established in December 2019, to confront terrorist groups active in the north of the country.
Armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have carried out regular attacks in the north and east of Burkina Faso since 2015.
The attacks - which spread from Burkina Faso to neighboring countries - killed more than 2,000 people and displaced nearly two million people.
The armed confrontation forced the authorities in Burkina Faso to evacuate some villages on the northern border with Niger and to gather the population in larger villages to secure them from any attack.
More than 1.7 million people have been displaced, and 2,000 people have died in a militant insurgency that erupted in the impoverished Sahel nation in 2015, according to an AFP tally.