Minister of Defense Aime Barthelemy Simpore said that the soldiers showed “great combativeness” during the fighting that began at 5am, when the soldiers were targeted by a large number of heavily armed men.

“We are totally devastated because of what happened,” Abdoulaye Pafadnam, the mayor of nearby Barsalogho town, told the Associated Press by phone. “Many defense and security forces were sent to cover the area, and it was very encouraging to see that. We did not think that such an attack would happen in our zone. But when 12 [now 14] soldiers get killed and equipment is taken away, it creates a big fear,‘’ he said.

“Several terrorists were neutralized during the response,” said Simpore, adding that the soldiers’ had a “great fighting spirit”.

Civilians in Burkina Faso are subject to grave acts of violence and human rights violations at the hands of extremist groups, who often target Christians, their leaders, and places of worship.

Source: persecution.org