Toeni bus bombing | |
---|---|
Part of Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso | |
Location | Toeni Department, Sourou Province, Burkina Faso |
Date | January 4, 2020 |
Attack type | Improvised explosive device |
Deaths | 14 |
Injured | 9 |
Perpetrator | Unknown |
The Toeni bus bombing occurred when a school bus drove over an improvised explosive device in Toeni, Burkina Faso, killing fourteen people and injuring nine others on January 4, 2020.
Burkina Faso has been grappling with a jihadist insurgency since 2015, with attacks from groups like Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara intensifying since 2017 and 2019 respectively. [1] Throughout the war, landmines have plagued rural areas, and are often placed by jihadists along roads used by the military and civilians. [2]
Three buses were carrying 160 passengers, 104 of them students. [3] The bus was carrying students returning from the Christmas season along the Toeni-Tougan highway at the time of the bombing. [4] Stanislas Ouaro stated afterwards that the road was closed, due to the risk of attacks in the region. [3]
The bomb was a homemade IED, and no group claimed responsibility for the attack. [5]
The majority of the dead were children, according to a statement from the Burkinabe government. [6] Fourteen people were killed, including seven children, and nine were injured. [7]
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