Seven Ghanaian tomato traders caught up in Burkina Faso terror attack killed; Interior Minister confirms DNA testing underway to identify bodies

It has been confirmed that seven Ghanaian tomato traders caught up in a terrorist attack in northern Burkina Faso last Saturday have been killed.

At least four others have been injured after a truck carrying the tomato traders was caught up in the armed assault on the town of Titao in northern Burkina Faso.

The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, confirming the killing, said Ghana embassy officials were working to notify their families and arrange the return of survivors.

Speaking in a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Joy FM on Monday [February 16, 2026] Mr Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, said the truck was carrying 10 men and eight women when armed fighters attacked Titao on February 14, shooting male residents and travellers on sight.

Seven of the men died, three sustained injuries, and one woman suffered serious injuries. The remaining seven women escaped without serious physical harm.

“The jihadists ran into the town and started rounding up almost everybody, especially the males, targeting to kill every male just on sight,” Mr Mubarak said. “They separated the males from the females and went on the street and sprayed, killing almost all the males.”

Mr Mubarak said he had been in direct contact with his Burkinabè counterpart since the attack. He explained that the condition of the bodies had deteriorated to the point where the Burkina Faso authorities secured agreement on February 15 to proceed with burials the following morning. Ghana’s mission in Ouagadougou could not travel to Titao to witness the burial because the area remained unsafe.

He confirmed that Burkinabè authorities agreed to allow DNA samples to be taken from the victims before burial to aid formal identification.

He said the surviving women, who travelled with the men and knew them personally, had already provided names to Ghanaian officials. The women were expected to attend the burial in place of the mission and document proceedings through photographs.

“We have lists. The women who went with them knew who were there, who had lost their lives, who are alive and receiving treatment,” Mr Mubarak said. “We do not want to mix it up, so that is why we are working with DNA to do some confirmations.”

Mr Mubarak said arrangements were being made by the Burkinabè military to escort the surviving and injured Ghanaians from Titao to Ouagadougou, where they would be handed over to officials at the Ghana Embassy before plans were made to return them home.

He appealed to the public to stop circulating graphic images and videos of the victims on social media, warning that some families were learning of deaths through shared posts before formal notification.

Mr Mubarak said authorities were still working to confirm the identities of the dead and injured before releasing names publicly and urged patience.

He also referred to the wider security threat across the Sahel, stating that attacks were claiming an estimated 80 lives daily across about 44 incidents.

He pointed to a security summit convened by President John Mahama in Accra two to three weeks earlier, which brought together security chiefs, foreign ministers and heads of state from Mali, Liberia and Ghana, as part of efforts to address the regional threat.

“This is something that no one can deal with alone,” Mr Mubarak said. “Our citizens are intermarried, they intertrade, they will move. So let us work together to deal with this as a sub-region.”