Death toll from terrorist attack in Burkina Faso rises to 80

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - The death toll from a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso’s northern Sahel region rose to 80 on Thursday, the government said in a statement.

The attack took place Wednesday when a joint convoy of civilians, soldiers and army auxiliary members was targeted.

During the fighting, 59 civilians, 15 soldiers and six army auxiliary members were killed, while security forces shot dead 80 terrorists.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore announced Wednesday in a decree that a national mourning period of 72 hours will be observed beginning Thursday.

He ordered flags to be flown at half-mast throughout the country.

Kabore also banned demonstrations and popular gatherings of a cheerful nature during the mourning period.

Many people have perished at the hands of terrorists since 2015 in the West African country.

More than 230,000 people have been internally displaced, according to official figures.

The latest terrorist attack comes a day after the UN Security Council declared that it is concerned about the deterioration of the security situation in some countries of the West Africa and Sahel region and the rise of terrorism in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin as well as in the West Africa region as a whole.