YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – At least 15 Catholics have been killed in a jihadist attack in Burkina Faso after insurgents opened fire inside a church during Sunday Mass.
The attack took place in Essakane village in the Dori Diocese of the country’s northeastern region on 25 February.
According to a statement signed by the Vicar General of the diocese, Father Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, 12 of the victims died instantly, three others died later from gunshot wounds.
“Let us also pray for the conversion of those who continue to sow death and desolation in our country,” Sawadogo said. “May our efforts of penance and prayer during this blessed season of Lent bring peace and security to our country.”
Burkina Faso has been plagued by an insurgency for years, and at least 20,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Jihadist attacks in the country since 2015, when terrorist groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the Islamist State (ISIS) launched a murderous campaign in the country.
Attacks have focused on Christian churches of different denominations, and also killed children. At the end of 2023, Catholic bishops in the land-locked country said that the country’s descent into chaos has seen at least 30 parishes closed, along with Catholic-run institutions such as schools and hospitals.
The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need estimates that 40 per cent of the country is controlled by terrorists. The continued attacks have forced over two million people – about 10 per cent of the population – to flee.
The violence in Burkina Faso isn’t an isolated case in the Sahel. The African Centre for Strategic Studies says Burkina Faso has become the epicentre of jihadist violence in the Sahel – the arid region south of North Africa – with terrorist groups solidifying their grip on significant territories. The crisis has been made worse by political instability, including two military coups in 2022.
The African Centre for Strategic Studies says an estimated 8,600 people could have been killed in Burkina Faso last year due to violence linked to militant Islamist groups, marking a 137 per cent increase from 2022 when 3,627 were killed.
The collapse of Libya in 2011 triggered a wave of terrorism across the Sahel, with the Islamic State terrorist organization occupying northern Mali in 2012. The jihadist insurgency subsequently spilled over to Burkina Faso and Niger in 2015. Even before Libya fell, Boko Haram had already started attacks in northern Nigeria in 2009, and later spread its violence to Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
A combination of terrorism, political instability, the unchecked circulation of weapons, food insecurity and climate fluctuations have all combined to drive terrorism across the region.
According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence in the region jumped by 20 percent in 2023, claiming more than 23,000 lives throughout the Sahel.
While some attacks have targeted Christian churches, other terrorists have also kidnapped members of the clergy, including women and men religious, and seminarians.
In October 2023, Vatican News announced that the Vatican will host a forum on peace in the Sahel in June 2024.
Photo: Worshippers attend a mass outside Ouagadougou’s cathedral, 12 June 2022. (Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP via Getty Images.)
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