Twelve soldiers die in jihadist attack in eastern Burkina Faso

At least twelve soldiers were killed on Sunday in eastern Burkina Faso by suspected jihadists, security sources said, the sixth attack of its kind in the country in ten days.

"On Sunday, armed elements attacked a military unit around Natiaboani. The provisional toll is twelve fallen soldiers," a security source said.

"This was a patrol and security team that was attacked by presumed jihadists," another security source said, adding that ten soldiers had been killed.

"Multiple elements on the enemy side were also neutralised," they said, without giving further details.

Natiaboani is a rural community about sixty kilometres south of Fada N'Gourma, the largest town in the Eastern Region administrative area that since 2018 has been regularly targeted by armed groups.

Around 15 youths were kidnapped by armed individuals during an attack on Friday in nearby Nagre, according to the country's information agency.

Violence on the upsurge after coup

Burkina Faso has seen an upsurge in violence after a period of relative calm following a military junta taking power in January.

Disgruntled officers toppled elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who had been facing protests over his handling of the bloody jihadist insurgency.

In total, 23 civilians and 25 policemen or soldiers have been killed over the last ten days.

Burkina Faso has been struggling with jihadist attacks since 2015, when militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group began mounting cross-border raids from Mali.

The violence has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced at least 1.7 million, according to an a tally established by the French news agency AFP.

In January alone, 160,000 fled their homes, a group of international charities said last Thursday.