Burkina Faso: Attack against customs checkpoint in Nohao, customs officers and Spanish priest killed

(Updated)

Around 17h local time, presumed militants attacked a customs checkpoint in Nohao, situated in the Boulgou Province on national route 16 between Cinkansé and Bittou, near the Ghanaian border.

Four customs officers were killed in the attack and three vehicles burned. Koglweogo militiamen arriving at the site were told by the militants to make a “u-turn” and not to meddle in their affairs, since they were after defense and security forces (FDS). Consequently, the Koglweogo left the area.

In connection to the events in Nohao, a vehicle carrying a Spanish priest and two local colleagues traveling from Cinkansé en route to Ouagadougou was intercepted by the militants who separated the Spanish priest from the others and shot him dead.

The organization CERFI planned to hold an Islamic conference on Sunday in Bittou, the event was postponed as a result of the attack.

The Burkinabe air force carried out an erroneous airstrike on January 30 against the village of Zanta, also located in the Boulgou Province, while in the process of retaliating against militants who had overrun an army camp in Kompienbiga. (see Menastream: Burkina Faso: Airstrike hit village 130km from the actual target)

Yesterday, two Burkinabe soldiers were killed and six others wounded after being dispatched to the site of a corpse dressed in military uniform between Djibo and Mentao in the country’s north. The body was booby-trapped and detonated when the team handled the corpse in order to move it from the area. The incident is the first of its kind, although militants frequently use IEDs, mines, and explosives when conducting attacks and blowing up security and educational facilities.