BURKINA FASO: Two catechists killed in road attack

Armed men brutally murdered two catechists in Burkina Faso while they were travelling home. 

The attack by unidentified gunmen took place near the commune of Bondokuy in the Diocese of Dédougou, a local contact told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The source – who asked not to be named – said that four catechists were travelling together on their motorcycles, but two of them managed to escape from the attackers into a nearby forest.

The ACN contact added that the Bondokuy police commissioner said the incident on 25th January was the fourth murder at the same location.

Except for the central region around the capital Ouagadougou, most of Burkina Faso is affected by escalating violence, according to reports from the International Rescue Committee.

The conflict has caused one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in the world, with more than two million people – 10 percent of the population – forced out of their homes.

ACN has provided Mass stipends for priests and emergency aid, food, medicine and psychological help for displaced people, as well as supporting the formation of seminarians in Burkina Faso.

With thanks to Sina Hartert and Maria Lozano