Published: Less than 20 min ago
At least 51 soldiers were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said.
The attack occurred on Friday, and another “43 new bodies were found”, the military announced in a statement on Monday. This brings the death toll to over 50.
Burkina Faso is one of the world’s poorest countries and has been ravaged since 2015 by an insurgency led by jihadists linked to the terrorist groups IS and al-Qaeda.
The number killed in the unrest is difficult to calculate. On the other hand, two million are estimated to have been forced to flee their homes as roughly a third of the country’s territory can no longer be controlled by the regime in Ouagadougou.
The country has also undergone two recent military coups. The most recent was last fall when the 34-year-old captain Ibrahim Traoré took power.