At least eleven soldiers were killed and around fifty civilians missing during an attack by suspected jihadists in Gaskindé, in northern Burkina Faso, perpetrated on Monday September 27 against a supply convoy, according to a new report announced Tuesday evening by the Burkinabè government.

"A supply convoy bound for the town of Djibo was the target of a cowardly and barbaric attack. The provisional toll is 11 bodies of soldiers found, 28 wounded," government spokesman Lionel Bilgo wrote in a statement. a statement.

"About 50 civilians are also missing and the search is continuing," the statement continued.

The toll could however be much heavier, a security source referring to AFP "about sixty victims".

"Virtually the entire convoy, vehicles and food, was set on fire," the source continued.

Videos received from security sources by AFP show several trucks burned and gutted on the side of a road.

"We remain standing"

The convoy was the target of an ambush, near the town of Gaskindé, a town located in the province of Soum, the staff had indicated Monday evening in a press release.

"The attack also caused significant material damage," said Lionel Bilgo.

"Certainly, we are afflicted by the current tragedy and the cruel losses that we are recording, but we remain standing, united and united to liberate our dear country Burkina Faso", he said, recalling the commitment of the "forces patriotic forces in the fight against terrorism to keep the oath to defend and free our people from the grip of obscurantist forces who want to enslave them through blind violence and terror".

Second attack this month

This is the second attack this month against a supply convoy in the north of the country.

At the beginning of September, the explosion of an artisanal device between Djibo and Bourzanga had caused the death of at least 35 civilians, including several children.

These convoys, escorted by the army, supply cities in the North subject to a blockade by jihadist groups who recently dynamited bridges on major highways.

Burkina Faso, where soldiers took power in January promising to make the fight against jihadist their priority, is confronted like several of its neighbors with the violence of armed movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Since 2015, recurrent attacks have left thousands dead and displaced some two million people.

With AFP

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