Burkina Faso to 'Lightly' Arm Citizens After Terrorists Kill
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:58 pm
FILE - A vehicle of the Burkina Faso Army patrols a rural area in the Soum region in northern Burkina Faso, Nov. 14, 2019.
Burkina Faso's Parliament voted Tuesday to provide local volunteers with "light weapons" after a terrorist attack on two villages left 32 civilians dead.
No one has claimed responsibility for Monday's attack that the government blames on a "terrorist group."
"These repeated attacks on innocent civilians call for real cooperation between defense and security forces," a government statement said, as it called for a "frank collaboration" between civilians and security forces.
Suspected Islamic extremists attacked a market in the village of Nagraogo and burned it to the ground. Four others in Alamou village were also killed.
Militant attacks in what had been a relatively peaceful Burkina Faso have surged in recent months as Islamic insurgents spill across the borders from neighboring Mali and Niger.