![The army said it had launched a large air and ground operation in response to the attack [File: Joe Penney/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/8/20/6211be247a0340d18c0b53163b20addc_18.jpg)
OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least five soldiers were
killed in an ambush in northwestern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali.
“A military patrol was attacked Thursday night in an ambush by
armed individuals near Toeni,” in Sourou province, a security source said.
One other soldier was injured.
The army fired back and sent out a patrol to track down the attackers,
another source said.
A similar attack in the region left four soldiers dead a month ago.
In a separate development, a bridge had been blown up at
Boukouma on the road linking the northern towns of Djibo and Dori.
Thousands of residents have fled the region in the wake of repeat militant
attacks.
The attacks — mostly in the north and east — have left more than 570
people dead since 2015.
The Burkinabe government has logged some 440 incidents in the same period.
With the army struggling to contain the violence, the attacks have spread
westward into other parts of the country.
Burkina Faso last week hosted an extraordinary summit of West African
states at which leaders announced a billion-dollar five-year plan to fight
militants and prevent violence spreading across the region. — NNN-AGENCIES