French West Africa

Forty-four civilians have been killed by "armed terrorist groups" in two villages in northeastern Burkina Faso, near the Niger border, a regional governor said Saturday.

France will give back 26 artworks, including royal thrones, ceremonial altars and revered statues to Benin later this month, part of France's long-promised plans to give back artwork taken from Africa during the colonial era.

In the northern Senegalese city of Saint-Louis, excavators are ripping up the beach to lay giant blocks of basalt, in an eleventh-hour effort to keep the sea at bay.

When work is finished, a black sea wall will stretch for kilometers along the coastline of the West African country's former capital, famed for its colonial-era architecture.

Turkey on June 6 denounced an attack by unidentified assailants in northern Burkina Faso that left over 100 people dead.

The attack occurred in a village in Yagha province in the Sahel region overnight on June 4.

"We strongly condemn this heinous attack," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

It is official that the Eco will replace the CFA franc as the new currency for the eight Francophone countries that form the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).

France's Council of Ministers officially passed a bill earlier this month that ratified the reform of the monetary agreement that bound the French government to the eight member states.

Turkey on March 20 condemned a recent terrorist attack in the northeastern region of Gao in Mali that killed 29 people including two soldiers.

Terrorists on March 19 attacked an army camp in Tarkint village in the Gao city area.

Turkey on Feb. 17 condemned a terrorist attack that killed at least 24 people when gunmen attacked a church in northern Burkina Faso.

"We condemn this terrorist attack. We extend our sincere condolences to the brotherly Government and people of Burkina Faso as well as to the families and relatives of those who lost their lives," Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At least 24 people were killed in a church attack by about 20 jihadists in Pansy village in Burkina Faso,. The pastor was among the killed. At least ten others were injured and three were abducted, the Associated Press reported.

Among the dead are both Christians and Muslims. The church was set on fire.

Turkey on Jan. 22 condemned a terrorist attack which killed at least 36 civilians in Burkina Faso.

"We are saddened to receive the news that many people lost their lives and were injured in a terrorist attack on a market in a village in the central-northern province of Sanmatenga of Burkina Faso," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Turkey's state-run aid agency on April 24 brought a vocational training center into service for women in Burkina Faso, a West African country.