Islamist militants have killed 26 Christian men in an armed attack on a church in Banwa province, western Burkina Faso, near the border with Mali.
The attack took place during a morning service in the small village of Kounla on Sunday 25 August. On entering the church the militants ordered the women and children to leave. They detained 26 men before killing each one.
The Islamists belonged to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a West African terror group affiliated to Al Qaeda.
JNIM fighters in Burkina Faso. Islamist terror groups are active across the West African Sahel region [Image credit: Grey Dynamics]
The attackers then set fire to houses and stole livestock before leaving the village. Two of the militants were reportedly killed after accidentally triggering an improvised explosive device they had planted earlier.
The surviving villagers have taken refuge in the nearby town of Sanaba.
Islamists (including JNIM and Islamic State Sahel Province) have been waging a nine-year campaign of violence in Burkina Faso, which has included targeting Christians and churches.
An attack on a church in Oudalan province in February 2024 left 15 worshippers dead.
More than two million people have been driven from their homes and thousands have been killed during the insurgency, which began when Islamist extremists in Mali and Niger began moving into the north of Burkina Faso in 2015.
Jihadists now control more than 40% of the nation’s territory.
Ask the Lord to protect Burkina Faso’s citizens from such attacks, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for an end to the current insecurity and violence, and for peace to be restored throughout the land.
