Armed Group Kills Three Burkina Police near Mali Border
Three police were killed in western Burkina Faso early Friday when their barracks were attacked by "about 50" assailants, the defense ministry said in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital.
A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said the attack -- which occurred near the border with troubled Mali -- had been carried out by "jihadists."
The gendarme brigade in the district of Samorogouan came under pre-dawn attack, it said in a statement, adding that one of the assailants was killed.
A statement signed by general chief of staff General Pingrenoma Zagre and seen by AFP said the attacks came around 4 a.m. (0400 GMT) "when about 50 armed and as yet unidentified men from Burkina's western borders attacked the gendarme brigade at Samorogouan.
"This attack killed one assailant and sadly three of our gendarmes," the statement said.
Concurring sources added that a civilian had had his throat slit and a policeman had been abducted.
Samorogouan is some 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Ouagadougou but only some 30 km from the border with Mali.
General Zarge said he wished "to reassure people that measures will be taken to reinforce their protection and their security," urging them to inform authorities should they come across any behavior prompting suspicion.
The attack comes on the heels of an abortive coup in Burkina Faso on September 17, when an elite army force loyal to the old regime of deposed leader Blaise Compaore tried to snatch power from the transitional authority.
Earlier this week, coup leader General Gilbert Diendere and Djibrill Bassole, a former foreign minister under Compaore, were charged with murder and attacking state security.
Friday's attack followed an August 23 attack by still unidentified assailants on a gendarme brigade on the northern town of Oursi near the borders of both Mali and Niger in which a gendarme and his daughter were injured.
Sources in the region say western powers were concerned in the aftermath of the attempted coup that army tensions or absence of strong government could encourage jihadist groups to launch cross-border strikes.
Source: Agence France Presse
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