Security forces have launched a military search operation after 14 people were killed in a “barbaric attack” on a Protestant church in Burkina Faso’s east, authorities on Monday said.
Security personnel were also making sure that everyone injured in the attack was brought to safety, the governor of Komondjari region said in a statement.
Residents in and around the town of Hantoukoura, where the attack took place, were asked to remain vigilant, the governor said.
“I condemn the barbaric attack against the Protestant Church of Hantoukoura in the department of Foutouri, which left 14 dead and several wounded,” President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said on Twitter.
The president offered his condolences to the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday.
The attack took place near the West African country’s border with Niger, a troubled area where numerous extremist groups are currently active.
In recent times, the “tri-border region” between the two countries and Mali has been particularly troubled.
In May, gunmen stormed a Catholic church in Dablo, a rural community about 100km north of the town of Kaya in the country’s north-east, killing six people.
