Suspected jihadists killed at least 19 gendarmes and a civilian in an attack early Sunday in northern Burkina Faso, officials said.

The pre-dawn attack, one of the deadliest to hit Burkinabe defence and security forces since jihadist violence erupted six years ago, targeted a "detachment of the Inata gendarmerie", the army chief of staff said in a statement.

The attack left 20 dead including a civilian according to a "provisional" toll, Security Minister Maxime Kone said on national radio.

He said the gendarmes "resisted and fought bravely", adding that survivors had been located, with a search still under way for others.

A security source said the assailants drove pickup trucks and motorbikes and engaged in "lengthy exchanges of gunfire" with the gendarmes.

A separate attack occurred Sunday morning in the town of Kelbo, also in Soum province, according to government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura.

"Fortunately, this attack was repelled by soldiers," he said, adding that they were backed by volunteer civilian fighters and there were no casualties.

On Friday, seven police officers were killed and five were wounded in an attack in Alkoma, in neighbouring Seno province, according to police.

The poor Sahel state has been hit by jihadist attacks since 2015, mostly in the northern and eastern regions close to Mali and Niger -- countries facing their own struggles against jihadists -- but also in the south.

Jihadist attacks, often coupled with ambushes and attributed to movements affiliated to the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda, have killed more than 2,000 people and forced more than 1.4 million to flee their homes.

Last week the political opposition in the former French colony called for urgent steps to deal with what it called a worsening security situation following a surge in jihadist attacks.

They threatened to take to the streets to demand the immediate resignation of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Jihadist attacks kill seven Nigeria troops
Kano, Nigeria (AFP) Nov 13, 2021
At least seven Nigerian soldiers were killed in two separate ambushes by IS-affiliated jihadist fighters in the northeast of the country, the army and military sources said on Saturday. Convoys have increasingly come under attack from Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) jihadists in the northeast where soldiers are battling to end a 12-year Islamist insurgency that has killed more than 40,000 civilians. On Saturday four soldiers, including a military commander, were killed when ISWAP fig ... read more