Burkina Faso’s Communications Minister Ousseni Tamboura said that the attack occurred in the Sahel’s Soum province at around 5am on Sunday, by uniditfied armed groups.

“The escalating violence points to a very worrisome trajectory,” said Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. He added that the attack was the deadliest on the nation’s security forces since jihadi violence started over five years ago.

While Burkina Faso was once seen as a harmonious nation of religious tolerance, a jihadist uprising has plagued the country as well as the rest of Africa’s Sahel region since 2015. Civilians 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