Barnabas Fund, 24 May 2021
Armed men, suspected to be jihadist militants, attacked a baptism ceremony in a village of Oudalan province, Burkina Faso on 18 May, killing 15 people.
Many others were forced to flee the village, located in mainly Christian northern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali, in fear of their lives.
While no jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, groups affiliated to both Al Qaeda and Islamic State are active across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
The Sahel region of Africa, along with parts of West Africa such as Nigeria, has in the last few years become the epicentre of global jihadist activity.
Earlier this month a church was vandalised during a terrorist attack in Niger which left five dead and two seriously injured.
In August 2020 at least six people, mostly children, were killed and four others injured when an improvised explosive device detonated on a road in northern Burkina Faso.