“The attacks are multiplying. We ask for your fervent prayer. Pray for the victims and for the fearful survivors,” asked a priest from the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma in eastern Burkina Faso, speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
At the beginning of October, at least 150 people were killed by terrorists in Manni. On 20 October, Ziéla and Kombembgo, two villages from the Saatenga parish in the Southeast of Fada N’Gourma, were attacked by about one hundred terrorists.
According to an ACN source, the terrorists set fire to many houses belonging both to Christians and Muslims. The targeted houses included one belonging to the catechist, who was outside the village when the attack took place. His wife, who had stayed home with their three young children, was mishandled, and their home was pillaged and then burned. “The family is safe and sound, and the fact that the husband was absent saved his life,” reported the same source to ACN.
Catechists are currently on the front line of the violence in the country, as they are involved in pastoral work in many villages. Not all of them have the same luck as the catechist from Ziéla, who was outside the village when the terrorists attacked:
“Barely six months ago, Édouard Yougbaré, catechist in Pouargoguin, 7 km from Saatenga, was brutally killed, leaving behind a widow and 8 children. His last words were: ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me!’” recalls ACN’s source.
These tragedies underline the urgency of the security situation in Burkina Faso, where terrorist attacks began in 2015, and continue to ravage communities, with more than two million internally displaced people.
One of the local priests called for prayer for the victims and for peace.
“Let us implore the Lord for peace to return to our country, and to all countries being struck daily by murderous attacks, including Mali and Niger, and to nations at war like Ukraine, Israel and Lebanon.
May the prayer of St Francis of Assisi guide us: ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me bring love.’”
