Soldiers targeted in Burkina Faso militant attack

At least twelve soldiers have been killed in eastern Burkina Faso by suspected militants, security sources told AFP news agency, the sixth attack of its kind in the country in ten days.

"On Sunday, armed elements attacked a (military) unit around Natiaboani. The provisional toll is twelve fallen soldiers," a security source told AFP.

"This was a patrol and security team that were attacked by presumed jihadists [militants]," another security source told AFP, adding that around ten soldiers had been killed.

"Multiple elements on the enemy side were also neutralised," they said, without giving further details.

Natiaboani is a rural community about sixty kilometres south of Fada N'Gourma, the largest town in the Eastern Region administrative area that since 2018 has been regularly targeted by armed groups.

Around 15 youths were kidnapped by armed individuals during an attack on Friday in nearby Nagre, according to the country's information agency.

Series of violent events

Burkina Faso has seen an uptick in violence after a period of relative calm following a military junta taking power in January.

Disgruntled officers toppled elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who had been facing protests over his handling of the militant insurgency.

In total, 23 civilians and 25 policemen or soldiers have been killed over the last ten days.

Burkina Faso has been struggling with militant attacks since 2015, when fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group began mounting cross-border raids from Mali.

The violence has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced at least 1.7 million, according to an AFP tally.

In January alone, 160,000 fled their homes, a group of international charities said last Thursday.