Ten Civilians Killed in Burkina Faso After Bus Hits Landmine

The bus was traveling from the market town of Fada N’Gourma, about 220km (136 miles) from the capital Ouagadougou, to the border town of Kantchari near neighboring Niger, Al Jazeera reported.

The vehicle was traveling near the village of Bougui on Sunday afternoon when it hit a mine, Colonel Hubert Yameogo, the regional governor, said in a statement.

The injured were taken to the hospital in Fada N’Gourma, the main town in the east, and the rest of the passengers on the bus disappeared, Yameogo said. The government is restoring security to the area and trying to locate the missing passengers.

No one has claimed responsibility, but the attack occurred in an area where the government is battling fighters linked to al-Qaeda in North Africa, and Daesh (ISIL or ISIS).

Violence linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL has racked the country for more than six years, killing thousands and displacing nearly two million people. The government’s inability to stem the attacks led to two coups this year with each military leader promising to make security a priority.

However, attacks are continuing and swaths of land are being cut off by armed groups. The east and Sahel regions have been some of the hardest hit parts of the country, with towns besieged by rebels who prevent civilians from moving freely.

Sunday’s attack came one day after another mine exploded in the east, between Ougarou and Matiacoali villages, injuring five soldiers, according to an internal security report for aid groups seen by the Associated Press. The mine was targeting a unit near a mining site, said the report.

A resident of Fada N’Gourma who visited people in the hospital on Sunday told the AP that some of the severely injured had died and that everyone was terrified.