Gunmen kill six during Catholic mass in Burkina Faso
Ouagadougou, May 12: Gunmen killed a priest and five churchgoers during mass Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in Dablo, northern Burkina Faso, security sources and a local official said.
"Towards 9.00 am, during mass, armed individuals burst into the Catholic church," the mayor of Dablo, Ousmane Zongo, told AFP. "They started firing as the congregation tried to flee."
The attackers between 20 and 30 according to a security source managed to trap some of the worshippers, Zongo added.
"They killed five of them. The priest, who was celebrating mass, was also killed, bringing the number of dead to six." The gunmen then set fire to the church, several shops and a small cafe before heading to the local health centre, which they looted, burning the chief nurse's vehicle.
"There is an atmosphere of panic in the town," said Zongo.
"People are holed up in their homes, nothing is going on. The shops and stores are closed. It's practically a ghost town," he added.
Security reinforcements were sent from Barsalogho, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) south of Dablo, and were combing the area, a security source told AFP.
The attack came two days after French special forces freed four foreign hostages in the north of the country in an overnight raid that cost the lives of two soldiers.
The operation was ordered to free French hostages Patrick Pique and Laurent Lassimouillas who disappeared while on holiday in the remote Pendjari National Park in Benin on May 1.
The team also found two other female captives, an American woman and a South Korean.
Sunday's church strike came two weeks after a similar attack against a Protestant church in Silgadji, also in the north, when gunmen on motorbikes killed a pastor and several worshippers.
Burkina Faso has suffered from increasingly frequent and deadly attacks attributed to a number of jihadist groups, including the Ansarul Islam group, the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Nearly 400 people have been killed since 2015 mainly in hit-and-run raids according to an AFP tally.
Jihadist groups target both Muslim and Christian clerics, mainly in the north.
Former colonial ruler France has deployed some 4,500 troops in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad in a mission codenamed Barkhane to help local forces try to flush out jihadist groups.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Press bodies demand withdrawal of FIR Against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair
New Delhi: Several press organisations have called for the withdrawal of the FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police against Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking platform Alt News. The FIR includes allegations of endangering India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity under s. 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The case stems from Zubair’s social media post on October 3, where he shared a video of Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand’s speech that allegedly contained derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad. The video, shared on X (formerly Twitter), led to protests from Muslim groups across several cities. The complaint against Zubair was filed by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsimhanand Saraswati Foundation, claiming the post was intended to incite violence.
On November 27, the Allahabad High Court was informed that s. 152 of the BNS and s. 66 of the Information Technology Act had been added to the FIR. While the court allowed these additions, press bodies expressed strong opposition to the charges, calling them a misuse of laws meant to stifle press freedom and dissent.
The Press Club of India described s. 152 as a "new avatar" of the sedition law, warning of its potential to silence media and free thinkers. Similarly, DIGIPUB, an association of digital news organisations, condemned the FIR as a "vindictive and unreasonable overreach" by the authorities.
DIGIPUB questioned whether the Uttar Pradesh government intends to target journalists who expose hate speech against minorities. It urged the police to shift focus to prosecuting individuals making hate speeches rather than harassing journalists like Zubair.
The Allahabad High Court has scheduled the next hearing on December 3, directing the investigating officer to provide detailed affidavits regarding the charges. Meanwhile, Zubair has sought legal protection against arrest.
