Ouagadougou, Dec 26 (IANS): At least forty-one people had been killed in an ambush carried out by armed terrorist groups against a column of civilian fighters from the homeland defence volunteers (VDP), in Burkina Faso's northern Lorum province, government spokesman Alkassoum Maiga announced in a statement.
The incident took place on Thursday.
According to the same source, the identification of the victims is still underway by the national gendarmerie, Xinhua news agency reported.
The government strongly condemns this barbarity, and the president has decreed national mourning of forty-eight hours on Sunday and Monday.
Security in Burkina Faso has worsened since 2015, with terrorist attacks having killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over one million others in the West African nation.