In the northwest of the country, 22 people, reportedly including children, were killed late Sunday at Bourasso in Kossi province, said Boucle du Mouhoun regional governor Babo Pierre Bassinga.

“Armed men moved around the village at around 5:00 pm, firing in the air. They came back at night and blindly opened fire on people,” a security source said.

In northern Burkina Faso, 12 people died on Saturday in an attack at Namissiguima in Yatenga province, another security source said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Three of the dead were members of a civilian militia, the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) – an auxiliary force set up in December 2019 to support the army, reports France 24.