OUAGADOUGOU: Suspected terrorists killed nearly 20 civilians in an attack overnight on the northern Burkina Faso village of Lamdamol, Seno province, security sources said Sunday.
“The attackers, heavily armed and on motorbikes, literally executed the local inhabitants,” the security source told AFP. The attackers left nearly 20 dead, the source added.
A local health official, speaking from the town of Dori in the north, said the village’s chief nurse was among the victims.
“There is panic in the village and the surrounding area,” the official added, saying local people were fleeing toward the center-north of the country.
Another security source said that the attack had come as a reprisal after terrorists had told local people to leave the area a few days earlier.
The security forces worked day and night to make the zone safe, “but it is difficult to be everywhere at once,” said the source.
This massacre comes a week after several similar attacks in the north of the country.
On January 25, 39 civilians were killed in the village of Silgadji, in the neighboring province of Soum.
Burkina Faso borders Mali to the northwest and Niger to the east, both countries that are struggling to contain a wave of lethal terrorist attacks.
Burkina’s security forces, under-equipped and poorly trained, have not been able to counter the deadly raids in their territory, despite the help of foreign soldiers, notably French troops.
According to UN figures, the terrorist attacks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso killed 4,000 people in 2019 and caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, having forced 600,000 to flee their homes.
Gunmen kill 20 civilians in Burkina Faso
https://arab.news/ra26g
Gunmen kill 20 civilians in Burkina Faso
- Burkina Faso borders Mali to the northwest and Niger to the east, both countries that are struggling to contain a wave of lethal terrorist attacks
Indonesia’s first woman president awarded honorary doctorate by Princess Nourah University
- Megawati was recognized for her leadership and contributions to social, legal affairs
- She has received 10 other honorary degrees from Indonesian and foreign institutions
JAKARTA: Megawati Sukarnoputri, who served as Indonesia’s fifth president and was the country’s only female head of state to date, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, becoming the first foreign national to receive the title.
Megawati, the eldest daughter of Indonesia’s first President Sukarno and chairwoman of the country’s largest political party, the PDIP, served as president from 2001 to 2004.
The 79-year-old was awarded an honorary doctorate in organizational and legal affairs in Riyadh on Monday during a ceremony overseen by Princess Nourah University’s acting president, Dr. Fawzia bint Sulaiman Al-Amro.
“This recognition was given in appreciation of her efforts during her presidency, her significant contributions to social, organizational, and legal fields, and her role in strengthening institutional leadership in Indonesia,” the university said in a statement.
This is Megawati’s 11th honorary doctorate. She has received similar degrees from Indonesian and foreign universities, including the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2003 and the Soka University of Japan in 2020.
She has also been awarded the title of honorary professor by several institutions, including by the Seoul Institute of the Arts in 2022.
“We gather at the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, a university that stands as a symbol of women’s progress in education, knowledge and public service … To see so many intelligent women, I feel very proud,” Megawati said in her acceptance speech.
“Women’s empowerment is not a threat to any values, culture or tradition. It is actually a condition for nations that believe in their future … A great nation is one that is able to harness all of its human potential. A strong nation is one that does not allow half of its social power to be left on the sidelines of history.”
Megawati is the longest-serving political leader in Indonesia. Indonesia’s first direct presidential elections took place during her presidency, consolidating the country’s transition to democracy after the downfall of its longtime dictator Suharto in 1998.
