Burial held for seven Ghanaian traders killed in Burkina Faso terrorist attack
Gunmen stormed the market, separated men from women before opening fire
Seven Ghanaian traders killed by suspected terrorists who attacked a market in the town of Titao in northern Burkina Faso have been buried on Monday, Ghana's interior minister says.
The victims were among a group of 18 traders who had travelled to the West African nation to buy tomatoes on Saturday, February 14, when gunmen stormed the location, separating men from women before opening fire, the minister told a local radio station.
"They went on a shooting spree, killing almost all the males there, burning them together with the truck," Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka said on Monday, adding that the bodies were burnt beyond recognition.
Three men and one woman from the group survived with injuries. The remaining seven women escaped unharmed.
The minister said the surviving female traders attended the burials as witnesses and that Ghanaian officials were unable to reach the site because of security concerns.
Burkina Faso authorities spent hours reclaiming the town after the attack, the minister said, adding that they had promised to provide a military escort to move the injured survivors to Ghana's mission in the capital, Ouagadougou.
Terrorist groups linked to al Qaeda and Daesh have carried out increased attacks in Burkina Faso in recent years as they attempt to expand across the Sahel region.