Mass Burial Held For Slain Burkinabe Gendarmes

Burkina Faso held a mass burial Tuesday for most of the 49 gendarmes killed in a recent attack in the northern part of the country.

Bodies of 37 police officers were taken to a cemetery in the capital of Ouagadougou on flat-bed trucks draped in Burkinabe flags, according to reports.

The deceased were decorated posthumously during a funeral ceremony attended by relatives and senior government officials, the lefaso newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Christophe Joseph Marie Dabire paid tribute to the officers and expressed condolences to families, noting the deceased died defending their homeland.

The victims died in an attack Nov. 14 by gunmen at the detachment of gendarmerie in Inata, Soum province in the northern Sahel region.

More than 50 people were killed, including four civilians.

It was the deadliest attack on the country's defense and security forces since 2015.

The government announced that 17 gendarmes are still missing following the attack.

President Roch Kabore ordered an investigation last week into the attack to establish responsibility.

Officials said Monday that nine gendarmes and about 10 civilians were killed in a separate attack in the Central-North region.

Burkina Faso's area near Mali and Niger borders regularly witness attacks by terrorists with links to Daesh/ISIS terror group.

A total of 480 civilians were killed in attacks orchestrated by insurgents in Burkina Faso between May and August, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.

More than 1.4 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Burkina Faso due to the attacks, it said. -