17 militants, 5 civil defense volunteers dead in Burkina Faso clash

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – At least 17 militants and five civil defense volunteers were killed in an attack in northern Burkina Faso earlier this week, local media reported on Friday.

Militants stormed a camp of civil defense volunteers in Bilakoka, an area in Burkina Faso’s Sahel Region bordering Mali and Niger, according to a report by local newspaper LeFaso.

The volunteers managed to stave off the assault, killing 17 militants, but also lost five of their members, the report said.

The Volunteers for the Defense of the Motherland were set up by the government in December 2019 to provide support to the country’s armed forces.

Civilian volunteers go through a 14-day military training program that enables them to provide auxiliary services to the armed forces, such as surveillance and information gathering.

Over the past five years, the West African country has been plagued by terror attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands of people, especially in its northern and eastern parts.

Days earlier on Aug. 8, at least 12 soldiers were killed and three injured in an ambush targeting a joint military group in the country’s Boucle du Mouhoun region.