The president of the West African nation of Burkina Faso has confirmed that 14 people were killed in an attack on a Protestant church in the country’s east.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said Sunday on Twitter that he condemned “the barbaric attack” in the town of Hantoukoura. He said several people also were wounded.
Kabore offered his “deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”
Islamic extremists have been active in Burkina Faso since 2015. Jihadists have attacked police stations and churches across the country’s north but also recently have struck in the east.
In October, gunmen generally believed to be Islamic extremists attacked a convoy carrying employees of a mining company in that region, killing at least 37 people.