In northern Burkina Faso, 44 individuals were killed by unknown attackers in two separate incidents overnight on Thursday. The assaults occurred in the Sahel region of the impoverished West African nation, which has been wracked by extremist groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS, responsible for numerous attacks in recent years. It is unclear which organization conducted this week’s atrocities, but authorities have levied blame on armed terrorist cells. Amidst widespread violence which has displaced over 2 million people and brought about the deaths of numerous others, Burkina Faso has seen two coups perpetrated by the military in the past year in an unsuccessful attempt to reestablish stability. The unrest began in Mali in 2012 when Islamist militants co-opted a separatist tide among the Tuareg population, with the subsequent corruption creeping into neighboring states and potentially jeopardizing the security of coastal countries beyond.