Priest among six killed in Burkina Faso church attack
Gunmen have killed six people including a priest as Mass was being celebrated in a church in Dablo in northern Burkina Faso, officials say.
The BBC reports that the attackers, said to number between 20 and 30, then burned down the church in an incident that began about 09:00 GMT during mass.
The town's mayor, Ousmane Zongo, said that there was panic as other buildings were burned down and a health centre looted.
Jihadist violence has flared in Burkina Faso since 2016, and this is the third attack on a church in five weeks.
The mayor of Dablo, Mr Zongo told the AFP news agency: "Armed individuals burst into the Catholic church... They started firing as the congregation tried to flee.
"There is an atmosphere of panic in the town. People are holed up in their homes, nothing is going on. The shops and stores are closed. It's practically a ghost town," he said.
Security sources told AFP that reinforcements were being sent from Barsalogho, some 45km (30 miles) to the south.
Burkina Faso is among countries in the vast Sahel region battling Islamist insurgencies in the region.
It formed a regional force, G5 Sahel, along with Niger, Chad, Mauritania and Mali to take on the militants.
In January, PM Paul Kaba Thieba resigned amid growing pressure over a rise in kidnappings and jihadist attacks, and Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré was named his replacement.
France, a former colonial ruler in the region, has some 4,500 troops in four nations carrying out a mission codenamed Barkhane to counter jihadists.
Ends….
The BBC reports that the attackers, said to number between 20 and 30, then burned down the church in an incident that began about 09:00 GMT during mass.
The town's mayor, Ousmane Zongo, said that there was panic as other buildings were burned down and a health centre looted.
Jihadist violence has flared in Burkina Faso since 2016, and this is the third attack on a church in five weeks.
The mayor of Dablo, Mr Zongo told the AFP news agency: "Armed individuals burst into the Catholic church... They started firing as the congregation tried to flee.
"There is an atmosphere of panic in the town. People are holed up in their homes, nothing is going on. The shops and stores are closed. It's practically a ghost town," he said.
Security sources told AFP that reinforcements were being sent from Barsalogho, some 45km (30 miles) to the south.
Burkina Faso is among countries in the vast Sahel region battling Islamist insurgencies in the region.
It formed a regional force, G5 Sahel, along with Niger, Chad, Mauritania and Mali to take on the militants.
In January, PM Paul Kaba Thieba resigned amid growing pressure over a rise in kidnappings and jihadist attacks, and Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré was named his replacement.
France, a former colonial ruler in the region, has some 4,500 troops in four nations carrying out a mission codenamed Barkhane to counter jihadists.
Ends….