Burkina Faso says 170 dead in village ‘executions’

On June 5, 2021, Burkina Faso’s government announced that at least 170 people had been killed in a series of attacks in the country’s volatile north.

The attacks, described by the government as “executions,” took place in the village of Solhan in Yagha province. The assailants reportedly targeted the village’s market and other areas, killing civilians and burning homes.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore condemned the attacks as “barbaric” and pledged to step up efforts to combat terrorism in the region.

The violence in Burkina Faso is part of a larger conflict that has engulfed the Sahel region in recent years, with terrorist groups exploiting ethnic tensions and weak governance to carry out attacks against civilians and security forces.

The international community has expressed outrage at the latest violence in Burkina Faso and called for an immediate end to the bloodshed.