‘Tragedy of unprecedented proportions’, says bishop on Burkina Faso's terrorist attack

Islamist terrorists have massacred more than 150 people – including 22 Christians – during one of the deadliest atrocities in Burkina Faso’s history. According to local media reports, the residents of the Barsalogho community in central Burkina Faso had been digging defensive trenches to protect themselves against potential terrorist attacks, when more than 100 jihadists arrived on motorcycles and opened fire with automatic weapons on civilians and soldiers alike. Victims of the massacre on 24 August included women, children and elderly people, <a href="https://acnuk.org/news/burkina-faso-150-killed-in-unprecedented-attack/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">reports</mark></a> Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Bishop Théophile Nare of Kaya described the incident in a statement as a “tragedy of unprecedented proportions” in a country that has been suffering from Islamist extremism since 2015. The bishop designated 28 August as a day of mourning. He also called for three days of intensive prayer to “make reparation for all attacks on human life”.&nbsp; He added: “I make it my duty to come and urge you not to let yourselves be defeated but to keep hope, [as it] is hope that keeps us alive. “I would also like to exhort you to penance and conversion so that the God of mercy can give us the healing and consolation that we expect from him. “May the maternal prayer and accompaniment of the Holy Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Kaya, Our Lady of Sorrows help us to overcome the scandal of the Barsalogho massacre and continue to move forward in hope.” The attack was the third of its kind in the West African country within a month. Gunmen abducted more than 100 people aged between 16 and 60 years old – whose whereabouts are still unknown – in the Boucle du Mouhoun region in western Burkina Faso on 4&nbsp;August. Another attack took place in the same region on 20&nbsp;August, prompting part of the population to flee, according to local sources. Burkina Faso was colonised by France in the late 19th century. It gained full independence on 5 August 1960. In his statement, the bishop attempted to draw and offer solace from the words of Scripture: “We cannot fail to weep for our dead, as Holy Scripture exhorts us to do: ‘My son, pour out your tears for the dead…weep bitterly, cry out your grief, observe mourning as the dead deserve’ (Si 38:16-17),” the bishop wrote. <strong><em>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/christians-in-burkina-faso-do-not-know-if-they-will-survive-another-day/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Christians in Burkina Faso ‘do not know if they will survive another day’</mark></a></em></strong> <em>Photo: A worshipper prays at the Cathedral of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso's capital city, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 12 June 2022. (Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>