The head of Burkina Faso’s ruling junta Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba vowed Tuesday that his country would defeat armed groups, a day after a blast left dozens dead.
At least 35 civilians were killed and 37 wounded Monday when an improvised explosive device struck a convoy carrying supplies in Burkina Faso’s jihadist-hit north, the governor of the Sahel region said.
“This umpteenth cowardly and barbaric attack is proof that we must continue the fight against all those who reject the extended hand,” Damiba said, as he paid tribute to the “memory of all the innocent victims”.
“I firmly believe that we will defeat them, it’s only a matter of time,” he said, referring to armed groups.
The landlocked African state is in the grip of a seven-year-old insurgency that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced some 1.9 million people to leave their homes.
The fighting has been concentrated in the north and east, led by jihadists suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group.
The military-led supply convoy, including civilians, drivers and traders, had left the north for Ouagadougou, security sources said.
A hospital source said dozens of children were among those killed and hurt, including around 20 injured who had to be “evacuated” to a children’s hospital in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou.
A security source told AFP that “several children” were among the victims, but did not provide figures.
On Sunday evening, the day before the attack, Damiba welcomed a “relative calm” in several localities.
The government said it had intensified the army’s “offensive actions” and also initiated a process of dialogue with certain armed groups, through religious and local leaders.
According to Damiba, this process has enabled “several dozen young people” to lay down their arms.
Burkina’s ruling junta, which seized power in January, has declared the fight against the insurgency a top priority.
One of the bloodiest attacks was in June, when 86 civilians were killed in the northwestern department of Seytenga.
At the start of August, 15 soldiers died in the same area in a double IED blast.
Jihadist groups have recently staged similar attacks on arterial roads leading to the main cities in the north — Dori and Djibo.