Briefly

BURKINA FASO

Over 70 killed in attack on village: prosecutor

At least 70 civilians, including children, have been killed in an attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso earlier this month, a prosecutor said in a statement on Monday. Unidentified assailants attacked Zaongo village in Burkina Faso's northern Centre-North region on Nov 5, killing residents and setting property on fire. "The perpetrators of the atrocities remain unknown at present," the statement said. Since 2015, insecurity in the West African country has claimed many lives and displaced thousands of others.

ICELAND

Residents briefly back home amid volcano risk

From Christmas gifts to sheep, residents of Grindavik town in southwestern Iceland were briefly allowed to return to retrieve their belongings on Monday, authorities said. The town, home to about 4,000 people, was evacuated on Saturday after magma shifting under the Earth's crust caused hundreds of earthquakes, warning of a potential volcanic eruption. The seismic activity damaged roads and buildings in the town, an Agence France-Presse journalist saw. "Many roads are just wrecked. It's like a maze that you have to drive through," Johannes Daoi Johannesson, 34, told AFP on returning to the town. After waiting for hours in their cars, residents could enter their homes for just a few minutes to collect their valuables, with Icelandic police and civil protection vehicles on standby.

Agencies - Xinhua