The army said the security forces successfully fought off assailants before the arrival of reinforcements.
OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four soldiers and a police officer were killed and 11 more injured in twin attacks in the north of Burkina Faso, the army said in a statement.
“Military units in Bahn (Loroum province) and Yense (Yatenga province) were targeted by almost simultaneous terrorist attacks” at around 3 am Saturday, the statement said.
“These attacks unfortunately cost the lives of five personnel in the units, including one police officer. Eleven soldiers were also injured,” the statement added.
Until 2015, the poor West African country Burkina Faso was largely spared violence that hit Mali and then Niger, its neighbours to the north.
But jihadists — some linked to Al-Qaeda, others to the so-called Daesh group — started infiltrating the north, then the east, and then endangered the southern and western borders of the landlocked country.
Combining guerrilla hit-and-run tactics with road mines and suicide bombings, the insurgents have killed nearly 600 people while civil society groups put the number at more than 1,000.
France has a force of 200 in Burkina Faso but also intervenes frequently as part of its regional Barkhane operation. — NNN-AGENCIES
