According to reports, the gunmen returned to the village of Solhan, which was hit by an attack on the night of June 4-5 that left more than 100 people dead. After the burial of the victims and the departure of the military detachment from Sebba, they burst into the village on Saturday evening.
According to reports, the gunmen returned to the village of Solhan, which was targeted the previous night by an attack that left more than 100 people dead. They were numerous, some sources say at least 200 fighters.
According to our sources, they split into three groups. The first group clashed with Burkinabè soldiers in the village of Baniaba, not far from Solhan. To prevent the Burkinabè soldiers from advancing, these armed men placed improvised explosive devices on the roads.
The second group returned to Solhan. It was this group that continued to loot and burn everything that was still there. They stayed in the village for several hours before leaving, according to our sources. As for the third group, it headed toward Mansila, which raises fears of another attack in this area in the coming days, according to our sources.
In a statement, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces denies this information. He also denies other information spread on social networks and by some media on Sunday, reporting new attacks in the Sahel region.
The village was emptied of almost all of its inhabitants, who were traumatized by the level of violence they had experienced. Officially, 132 people were killed in the attack on the village, but several security sources who were on the scene say that at least 160 people were killed. The people of Solhan are demanding above all that they be able to live in safety. Deputy Mayor Sow Youssoufi believes that only the presence of a military camp in their community can reassure them, since today the security forces always arrive too late, particularly because of the minefields left by the attackers.
The national mourning was followed in the capital. Flags were flown at half-mast in the public administration. It was not a great day, especially at the end of the week in Ouagadougou. The maquis, restaurants, bars and others opened their doors, but there was no music.
Since yesterday, reactions to the attack in Solhan have multiplied. All condemn this attack, the deadliest that Burkina Faso has seen since 2015. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has expressed his indignation. For his spokesperson, Ebba Kalondo, these are war crimes that must be punished.
Colonel Assimi Goïta, the strongman in Mali, condemned on Twitter “with the utmost firmness this cowardly and heinous attack”. The man who is to be officially inaugurated as president of the transition on Monday expressed his “deep sadness” to his counterpart Roch Marc Christian Kaboré and said he was “in solidarity with the grief of the brotherly people of Burkina Faso”.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he would travel to Burkina Faso “this week” to express France’s solidarity.