A dozen people, including five Burkinabè soldiers, were killed on Sunday April 24 during a jihadist attack against a military detachment in northern Burkina Faso, security and local sources said.

"This morning around 5 a.m. (GMT and local) the military detachment of Gaskindé, in the province of Soum, North region, was the target of an attack by armed terrorist groups which resulted in the death of a dozen people including five soldiers," a security source told AFP.

"The other victims are civilians, killed during the attack," he said, stressing that other soldiers were injured and a lot of material damage was recorded.

A local elected official confirmed the attack, referring to his side "the death of four civilians".

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: Burkina Faso destabilized by jihadist violence

Resurgence of attacks by suspected jihadists

On April 8, still in the north of the country, a military detachment had been targeted by an attack, killing twelve soldiers and four civilian auxiliaries of the army.

Burkina Faso, particularly the north and east of the country, has been the target of 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.

The new head of state, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who overthrew elected President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré at the end of January, accused of being ineffective in the face of jihadist violence, has made the security issue his "priority". .

After a relative lull when he took power, Sandaogo Damiba has been facing an upsurge in attacks by suspected jihadists for several weeks, which have killed more than a hundred civilians and soldiers.

In early April, the head of state announced the creation of local committees for dialogue with jihadist groups to try to stem the violence.  

However, the Burkinabè State does not discuss directly with the combatants of the armed groups: these committees are made up of religious leaders, customary and traditional chiefs. 

At the same time, the Burkinabè army continues its military operations against the jihadists.

With AFP

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