Several dead in suspected jihadist attack on Burkina Faso military outpost

 

An insurgent attack on Sunday killed 19 Burkinabè military police and a civilian in the northern region of the three borders where the West African nation is fighting Islamist militants, Security Minister Maxime Koné told national radio.

Kone said the toll was provisional.

The attack on a military police outpost near a gold mine in Inata, northern Burkina Faso, comes two days after another attack in which seven police officers were killed in the nearby area from Niger and Mali.

Islamist militant groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are active in the three border area where several countries including France, Chad, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have deployed hundreds of soldiers.

Two Burkinabe security sources and a diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday that at least 30 military police were killed in the attack and that the toll could be higher, making it one of the deadliest attacks against Burkina Faso troops.

Burkina Faso’s armed forces confirmed Sunday’s attack in a statement earlier indicating “a gendarmerie detachment has been the subject of a terrorist attack”.