Eleven soldiers were wounded and 29 “terrorists” neutralised in a weekend attack on security forces in Burkina Faso’s troubled northwest, the army said on Sunday.

Military and police units came under attack on Saturday in the area of Gomboro “by armed individuals”, the army said.

“The fighting caused injuries to 11 soldiers who were treated. Their response and counter-offensive allowed the neutralisation of 29 terrorists and the recovery of a large amount of combat materiel including weapons, vehicles and communication equipment,” the statement said.

On December 23, an ambush by suspected jihadists targeting civilians and the VDP, an official self-defence force, in the northern You region left 41 people dead, including Ladji Yoro, considered a leader of the VDP.

That attack was the deadliest since the bloodshed in Inata in the country’s north in mid-November, which claimed 57 lives including 53 police officers.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been facing regular and deadly jihadist attacks, particularly in the northern and eastern regions, close to Mali and Niger, countries also battling armed jihadist groups.

These attacks, often coupled with ambushes and attributed to jihadist movements affiliated with the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda, have killed more than 2,000 people and forced more than 1.4 million to flee their homes. (AFP)

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