On the morning of Sunday, November 14, armed men stormed a gendarmerie detachment in Soum province, located in northern Burkina Faso. The provisional report announced the evening by the government shows 20 people killed including 19 gendarmes and a civilian.
“We suffered a cowardly and barbaric attack, but the men bravely resisted the enemy,” said Maxime Koné, the Minister of Security. Adding that “22 survivors were found”. “A sincere official assessment will be made,” he said.
The attack was carried out by “a large number of armed individuals” circulating “in several pick-ups and motorcycles,” the government said. Operations are still ongoing and the search for possible other survivors and attackers continued Sunday evening in this area deemed “particularly” large, according to the Minister of Security.
These facts take place less than 72 hours after the death of seven police officers in an attack in the same region. Likewise, another attack took place on Sunday morning in Kelbo, another commune in the same province of Soum (located in the Sahel region), according to the Minister of Communication and government spokesperson, Ousséni Tamboura. In addition, “two civilians, in particular women, were killed by an explosive device” still in this province, informs a local elected official.
