35 civilians, 80 jihadists killed in attack in Burkina Faso

In this Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 file photo, soldiers from the presidential guard patrol outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako after it was attacked by Islamic extremists armed with guns and grenades. Islamic extremists have displaced half a million people this year in the border area between Burkina Faso and Mali as their threat continues to spread in West Africa's Sahel region. The fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are exploiting military and government weaknesses as well as local grievances. A regional counterterror force has failed to stop the attacks and has become a target itself. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File) In this Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 file photo, soldiers from the presidential guard patrol outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako after it was attacked by Islamic extremists armed with guns and grenades. Islamic extremists have displaced half a million people this year in the border area between Burkina Faso and Mali as their threat continues to spread in West Africa's Sahel region. The fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are exploiting military and government weaknesses as well as local grievances. A regional counterterror force has failed to stop the attacks and has become a target itself. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

By ARSENE KABORE / The Associated Press December 25, 2019 2 min read

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) – Jihadists attacked a town in northern Burkina Faso and killed 35 civilians, most of them women, and ensuing clashes with security forces left 80 jihadists dead, the West African nation’s president announced late Tuesday.

The violence, which erupted in the town of Arbinda in Sahel region near the country’s border with Mali, lasted for several hours, according to a military statement. Seven members of the security forces who responded also were killed.

Jihadist attacks are frequent in the area but the provisional toll released Tuesday evening was unprecedented.

“The heroic action of our soldiers has made it possible to neutralize 80 terrorists,” President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said. “This barbaric attack resulted in the death of 35 civilians, most of them women.”

It was not immediately clear where the women were at the time of the attack and why so many died.