36 civilians killed in northern Burkina Faso

Militants killed 36 civilians when they attacked villages on Monday in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Tuesday, appealing for local support in the fight against jihadists. A "terrorist group" killed 32 civilians when they attacked and burned the market in Nagraogo village before killing four more people in Alamou village, the government said.

Three other people were wounded in the attacks, it added. "The Burkina government has learned with consternation and anger of the deaths of 36 Burkinade in Sanmatenga province, after a terrorist attack," communications minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said.

Faced with these "repeated attacks" against civilians, the government launched an appeal for the people's "frank collaboration" with the defense and security forces. The Burkina parliament on Tuesday adopted unanimously a law allowing for the recruitment of local volunteers in the fight against jihadists, providing them with "light weapons."

Burkina Faso, as well as neighboring Mali and Niger, has seen frequent jihadist attacks which have left hundreds of people dead since the start of 2015 when Islamist extremist violence began to spread across the Sahel region. According to the UN, around 4,000 people were killed in jihadist attacks in the three Sahel countries last year.

The Burkina Faso army is ill-equipped and poorly-trained to deal with the threat posed by jihadists in the country. However, in recent months they have enjoyed a series of successes, claiming to have killed a hundred jihadists in many operations.

There are 4,500 French troops deployed in the Sahel region as well as a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali to fight insurgents, backing up national forces of the G5 -- Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. 

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