A military convoy transporting over 1,000 civilians in Burkina Faso was ambushed by suspected jihadists last week, resulting in civilian casualties and injuries. The regional governor confirmed the incident in a statement released on Wednesday but did not specify the number of deaths.

On August 9, suspected jihadists ambushed a military convoy in Tawori, a village in eastern Burkina Faso.

Regional Governor Ram Joseph Kafando, who visited the injured in the hospital on Tuesday, confirmed the attack but did not specify the number of casualties or whether any soldiers were among them.

Kafando commended the hospital’s medical staff for their “titanic job” in treating the wounded.

Burkina Faso, along with Mali and Niger, continues to grapple with a jihadist insurgency that has plagued the Sahel region for over a decade, leading to multiple coups in these countries since 2020 due to the previous governments’ failures to protect civilians.

However, the juntas have yet to fulfill their promises to eradicate the insurgency and put an end to the violence, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and forced millions from their homes.

The security situation remains dire, with civilians bearing the brunt of the conflict, and the ongoing instability has only deepened the humanitarian crisis across Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

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