Local and security sources on Monday told reporters that an attack on a mosque in eastern Burkina Faso, Natiaboani, killed dozens of Muslims on the same day as another deadly attack was carried out on some Catholics attending mass.
A security source told AFP that; “Armed individuals attacked a mosque in Natiaboani on Sunday around 5:00 am, resulting in several dozen being killed.”
“The victims were all Muslims, most of them men” who had come for morning prayers, a local resident said by telephone.
Another local source said “the terrorists entered the town early morning. They surrounded the mosque and shot at the faithful, who were gathered there for the first prayer of the day.”
“Several of them were shot, including an important religious leader,” the source added.
Soldiers and members of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), a civilian force that supports the military, were also targeted “by these hordes who came in large numbers”, the same source said.
The source described it as a “large-scale attack” in terms of the number of assailants, who also wreaked substantial damage.
On the same day as the attack on the mosque, at least 15 civilians were killed and two others injured during an attack on a Catholic church during Sunday mass in northern Burkina Faso, a senior church official said.
