Armed attackers killed at least 33 people when they opened fire on vegetable farmers in Burkina Faso, the governor of the Boucle du Mouhoun region said on Saturday. Much of the country, including parts of western Boucle du Mouhoun region, has been under a state of emergency since March as the government seeks to combat militant attacks. “On the evening of Thursday, May 11 at around 5:00 pm (1700 GMT), the village of Youlou in the department of Cheriba, Mouhoun province suffered a cowardly and barbaric terrorist attack,” Governor Babo Pierre Bassinga said in a statement.
“The gunmen targeted peaceful civilians” who were farming along the river, he said, adding the “provisional death toll” was 33 people killed. Local sources confirmed the presence of heavily armed assailants on motorcycles who fired indiscriminately.