Seven Ghanaian tomato traders have been confirmed dead following a terrorist attack in northern Burkina Faso last Saturday. At least four others sustained injuries when the truck transporting them was caught in the armed assault on the town of Titao. Ghana’s Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, confirmed the fatalities and noted that officials from the Ghanaian embassy are assisting survivors and working to notify families.
In a radio interview with Joy FM on Monday, February 16, 2026, Mr. Mubarak explained that the truck was carrying 10 men and eight women when armed fighters stormed Titao on February 14, targeting male residents and travellers with gunfire. 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.
Mr. Mubarak explained that the surviving women, who had travelled alongside the men and knew them personally, have already provided names to Ghanaian officials. They are expected to represent the mission at the burials and document the proceedings through photographs.
“We have lists. The women who accompanied them know who was present, who has lost their lives, and who is alive and receiving treatment,” he said. “To avoid any confusion, we are conducting DNA tests for confirmation.”
He added that the Burkinabè military is arranging to escort the surviving and injured Ghanaians from Titao to Ouagadougou, where they will be handed over to Ghana Embassy officials before plans are made for their return home. Mr. Mubarak also appealed to the public to refrain from sharing graphic images and videos of the victims on social media, cautioning that some families were learning of their loved ones’ deaths through such posts before official 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.”
Source: Mohammed Ali
