• Gunmen have attacked several worshippers and burned down a church during mass, killing six people, including a priest, in Burkina Faso, according to reports.

    The onslaught occurred in the northern town of Dablo, security sources and local officials said.

    "Towards 9.00 [local time 10:00 GMT), during mass, armed individuals burst into the Catholic church...They started firing as the congregation tried to flee," the mayor of Dablo, Ousmane Zongo, told news agency AFP.

    They burned down not only the church, but also shops and a small restaurant before going to the health centre where they searched the premises and set fire to the head nurse's vehicle, a resident said. "The city is filled with panic. People are holed up at home. Shops and stores are closed. It's practically a ghost town."

    The attack, like many in the country, is linked to jihadist groups such as Ansarul Islam, the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS).

    Header Image Credit: DW