Eleven gendarmes were killed in northern Burkina Faso, near the Niger border, when a gendarmerie post was targeted by gunmen on Thursday (June 6th), an army statement said on Friday.

"The Territorial Gendarmerie Brigade of Seytenga (Sahel region) was the target of a terrorist attack on the evening of Thursday, June 9. Unfortunately, eleven gendarmes made the supreme sacrifice", indicates the staff in a press release , adding that "several terrorists" had been killed.

Earlier Friday, a security source told AFP that four gendarmes were also injured.

Two other attacks took place Thursday in Burkina Faso.

In Barani, in the Boucle du Mohoun region in the northeast, four gendarmes were killed by an attack on their detachment.

And in Karma, near Ouahigouya, in the north, a Burkinabe soldier and a civilian were killed in an attack on a gold mine by unidentified gunmen.

About forty jihadists were killed, weapons and important equipment recovered by the army following these attacks, according to the general staff.

Resurgence of jihadist attacks

Burkina Faso, particularly the north and east, has been the scene of recurrent jihadist attacks since 2015, perpetrated by movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have left more than 2,000 dead and 1.8 million displaced.

Faced with insecurity, the Russian gold producer Nordgold announced in April the cessation of activities at the Taparko gold mine, Burkina's main private mine, located in the north.

On Thursday, Nere Mining, the Burkinabè operator of the attacked gold mine, also suspended their activities.

The country's new strongman, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré at the end of January, accused of ineffectiveness in the face of jihadist violence, has made the security issue his "priority".

After a relative lull during his takeover, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is facing an upsurge in attacks by suspected jihadists who have killed more than 200 civilians and soldiers since mid-March.

44:31

The ruling Malian junta has given itself until March 2024 before returning power to civilians.

© france24

With AFP

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