Unidentified assailants raid villages in Burkina Faso, killing 44

Unknown assailants killed 44 people in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso overnight on Thursday, authorities said. The assaults took place in the villages of Kourakou and Tondobi in the Sahel region of the country in West Africa, which is controlled by jihadist organizations with ties to al Qaeda and the Islamic State that have been conducting strikes…