.... Interior Minister Alkassoum Indatou attributed Sunday's attack in the Tillaberi region, near the

government said. Alkassoum Maiga, the government spokesman, announced two days of mourning for the

OUAGADOUGOU( Reuters)-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.It was one of t