Pansi church shooting

Pansi church shooting
Pansi church shooting
Part of the Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso and the Insurgency in the Sahel
	Pansi church shooting (Burkina Faso)
Location	Pansi, Yagha Province, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso
Coordinates	13°13′56″N 0°52′55″E / 13.2323°N 0.8819°E
Date	16 February 2020
Target	Churchgoers
Attack type	Mass shooting
Deaths	24
Injured	18
Perpetrators	Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb[citation needed]

On 16 February 2020 a large group of gunmen attacked a Protestant service being hosted in the village of Pansi, Burkina Faso. Pansi, a rural village in Yagha Province in the Sahel Region of Burkina Faso, was targeted by terrorists who wanted to loot supplies and dissuade the local population from attending or supporting church services.^[2]

Attack

During church services, a group of 20 armed gunmen launched an attack at a Protestant church in the town of Pansi in Yagha Province, after distinguishing the residents from the non-residents. Despite a church being the primary target, both Christians and Muslims were targeted by terrorists. The gunmen took hostages, and forced three of the hostages to transport looted rice and oil from the village on motorbikes.^[1]

Many individuals sought medical treatment in the nearby town Sebba after the attack. Other victims were transported by emergency services over 160 kilometres (100 mi) to hospitals in Dori, where Boundoré commune Mayor Sihanri Osangola Brigadie visited several of the victims.^[1] 24 people were killed during the shooting and 18 people were injured, in addition to the three who were taken hostage by the terrorists and forced to transport stolen goods.^[2] The pastor was among those killed. ^[3]

Aftermath

The West African Director for Human Rights Watch noted how many terrorists use victims' perceived links to governments or faith groups to target their attacks in Burkina Faso's troubled Sahel Region. The attacks on the church in Pansi notably occurred after a 10 February mass kidnapping at a pastor's property in Yagha province, in which 5 individuals (including the pastor) were found dead afterwards. The Pansi church attack highlighted the rise of anti-Christian terrorism in Burkina Faso's Sahel region, occurring during an increase in jihadist attacks for the area.^[4]