Ambulance bomb blast kills pregnant woman, others inBurkina Faso

Modupe Shodeinde

Four people including a pregnant woman were killed in northern Burkina Faso on Tuesday when the ambulance they were in was blown up by an improvised bomb, sources told AFP.

The ambulance driver, the pregnant woman and two people accompanying her were killed in the explosion in Gaskinde, close to the border with Mali in a region racked for years by jihadist attacks, a security source said.

The vehicle from the medical centre in nearby Djibo was “completely blasted apart by the explosion”, the source added.

A source from the medical centre confirmed the attack had taken place.

Burkina Faso — like neighbouring Mali and Niger — suffers from jihadist attacks especially in its north and east.

More than 1,200 people have been killed and roughly one million have fled the violence since 2015.

Two more women were killed Tuesday when their cart was blown up by an improvised bomb in Yagha province, also in the north.

Almost 200 people have been killed in attacks with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) since their use began increasing in 2018, according to an AFP tally.
The bombs are often combined with ambushes by fighters.

[AFP]