Burkina Faso declares two-day mourning period after 41 killed in ambush

Burkina Faso declared a two-day period of mourning after at least 41 members of a government-backed civilian militia were killed by suspected militants.

Authorities in Burkina Faso have declared a two-day period of mourning after suspected militants killed at least 41 members of a government-backed civilian militia in the country's desert north this week.

A column of civilian fighters from the Homeland Defence Volunteers (VDP), a group the government funds and trains to contain Islamist insurgents, was ambushed on Thursday as it swept a remote area in the northern Loroum province, authorities said on Saturday.