Thousands march in Dori to honour attack victims

Thousands demonstrated in Dori, Burkina Faso on Saturday for better security after last weekend's terror attack which left 132 people dead.

According to the head of Femmes pour la Dignité du Sahel (Women for Sahel's Dignity), demonstrators came from Sahel, Sebba, Gorom-Gorom and Falagountou.

Amadou Maïga, a local resident, said: "we came out to show our displeasure, the indignation that we are suffering," he said.

"There have been so many solutions sought by the government, so many decrees, so many procedures. But so far, that does not prevent, here in the Sahel, our brothers and sisters from dying."

The demonstration, supervised by the Burkinabè defence and security forces, began around 7 a.m. from the Hama Arba Diallo monument and ended at 11 a.m, in relative calm.

Singing the national anthem, many demonstrators carried placards with the words: "Enough is Enough", "Sahelian, I am Solhan" or "Life is a right."

The demonstrators also chanted "Zero!", referring to the level of security in the Sahel.

Many spoke of the "silence of the state" following last weekend's massacre of Solhan, in which armed militants killed 132 people, according to the authorities.

At the head of the procession, two large black banners were emblazoned with the words: "Solhan = the shame of the Burkinabè government" and calling for the resignation of Chérif Sy the Minister of National Defence.

The call for demonstrations was launched several days ago by civil society organisations and local associations.