At least five soldiers and about 30 perpetrators have been killed in an attack on a military base in northern Burkina Faso. The dead perpetrators are believed to belong to militant Islamists, according to a statement from the military on Saturday.
The fighting took place in the city of Bourzanga, in a region where the advance of extremists has led to about 2,000 deaths and 1.8 million homeless since large-scale attacks began in 2015. The extremists are said to have links to both al-Qaeda and IS.
The country’s leader, the military Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, says security is his top priority, but he is also employed and criticized for seizing power in Burkina Faso in a military coup in January. Then the elected president Roch March Christian Kaboré was overthrown.