Iran Press/Africa: terrorists killed 17 civilians in a night-time raid on a village in the troubled north of Burkina Faso, Defence Minister Cheriff Sy said Wednesday.
he added in a statement that an armed terrorist group carried out an attack against the civil population in the village of Belehede" overnight Tuesday, France 24 reported.
"A massive military operation is underway to find the attackers and secure the area," Sy added, calling on the population to be extra vigilant and report any suspicious activity.
Burkina Faso has suffered from increasingly frequent and deadly attack attributed to a number of terrorist groups, including the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
The raids began in 2015 in the north before targeting the capital Ouagadougou and other regions, notably in the east.
More than 400 people have been killed since 2015 -- mainly in hit-and-run raids -- according to an AFP tally.
Hundreds of schools in the north of the country have had to close after teachers began fleeing the region when they became targets.
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