Dozens of Burkinabe soldiers and allied volunteer militiamen (VDP) have been killed in two attacks carried out by suspected militants in the country's north, security sources said.

"Terrorist groups attacked the village of Noaka" in the north of the country, "mainly targeting the VDP", a security source said on Tuesday, adding that "another attack targeted a military unit" in the northern Sahel province.

"Unfortunately, we have recorded several dozen dead, soldiers and volunteers," the source added, which was confirmed by a VDP official.

The VDP (Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland) comprises civilian volunteers who are given two weeks of military training.

They then work alongside the army, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering, or escort duties.

Sweeping militant insurgency

Burkina is struggling with a militant insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

Nearly a third of the country lies outside state control, according to the government.

More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have died, according to an NGO count, while at least two million people have been displaced.

Anger within the military at failures to roll back the insurgency sparked two coups last year.