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by | Mar 14, 2018 | Chives

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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.

Background

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]

Bombing

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]

References

  1. ^ Savell, Stephanie (March 4, 2021). "The Costs of United States' Post-9/11 "Security Assistance": How Counterterrorism Intensified Conflict in Burkina Faso and Around the World" (PDF). Watson Institute at Brown University. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  2. ^ "Landmines, improvised explosive devices pose deadly risks for displaced in Sahel and Lake Chad". UNHCR US. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  3. ^ a b AFP (2020-01-05). "Seven children among 14 killed in roadside bomb in Burkina Faso". Brecorder. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  4. ^ "Children among more than a dozen killed in Burkina Faso bombing, security sources say". France 24. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  5. ^ "Schoolchildren among 14 killed in Burkina Faso bus blast". RFI. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  6. ^ "Burkina Faso bus blast: Students among 14 dead". 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  7. ^ "Incident Summary for GTDID: 202001040001". www.start.umd.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
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