The General Staff of the Burkina Faso army announced that 15 soldiers were killed and another wounded in an attack with two explosive devices on Tuesday, and said that the perpetrators were armed suspects of belonging to extremist organizations, in the latest attack in a series of similar attacks.
The authority stated - in a statement - that the two devices were "homemade", and that the attack took place on the Borzinga-Djibo axis in the north of the country, adding that the attack was carried out during an escort mission led by a military unit of the 14th Joint Arms Regiment.
She explained that one of the vehicles in the convoy carrying out the mission "was loaded with soldiers, and passed over an explosive device near the town of Namsegweya in Bam Governorate, and while rescue and security operations were underway, another device activated from a distance exploded, causing many casualties."
The authority added that military reinforcements were immediately sent to the scene to ensure the evacuation of the victims, and that "security operations are currently underway in the area."
And on Monday, at least 10 civilians - including 4 security volunteers - were killed in an attack suspected to have been carried out by gunmen in the northern province of Yatenga, and the army had previously announced that another similar operation had killed 4 soldiers and 9 assistants last Thursday in the Borzinga region. In the north of the country too.
Militants based in neighboring Mali began in 2015 to launch cross-border raids on Niger and Burkina Faso, which has a population of about 21 million and suffers from a severe humanitarian and political crisis.
It is noteworthy that the ruling military junta in Burkina Faso seized power in a coup last January that ousted former President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, amid widespread anger at the government's failure to quell the rebellion.
More than 40 percent of the country remains outside government control today, according to official figures.