BY  JESSICA DONATI

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When armed men entered Safi’s village in northern Burkina Faso and began firing, she hid in her home with her four children. The gunmen found them and let them live — to suffer the guilt of survival — after killing her husband and other relatives.

Safi, whose last name has been withheld for security reasons, is among 2 million people displaced in the West African country by growing violence between Islamic extremists and security forces.

About 60% of the displaced are children. Many are traumatized, but mental health services are limited and children are often overlooked for treatment.

“People often think that the children have seen nothing, nothing has happened to them, it’s fine,” said Rudy Lukamba, the health coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Burkina Faso.

He works on a program to help identify and treat traumatized children.