Eight civilians killed in Burkina Faso attack

The armed attack happened in the village of Komsilga, in the Zimtanga district, two weeks after similar attacks killed nine civilians in the same region.

FILE PHOTO: A soldier walks near the Army Headquarters in central Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on March 2, 2018.
AP

FILE PHOTO: A soldier walks near the Army Headquarters in central Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on March 2, 2018.

Armed raiders killed eight civilians in an attack on a village on Saturday in Burkina Faso's troubled north, with another person missing, security sources said.

The attack happened on Saturday morning in the village of Komsilga, in the Zimtanga district, one source said.

"They also burnt shops and motorcycles," the source said, adding that security forces had been deployed for "clearing up operations."

Another source said around 20 attackers came on motorbikes.

"A resident was kidnapped by the assailants," the second source said.

Nine civilians were killed in two separate attacks in the same region in the past week.

Burkina Faso has become part of a seven-year-old militant insurgency in the poor, fragile Sahel region.

More than 580 people have been killed since early 2015, according to an AFP toll.

Many of the attacks have been attributed to groups affiliated to Al Qaeda, and others to Daesh.

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