16 killed in ambush in Burkina Faso

At least 16 people, including seven soldiers of army patrol, and nine terrorists, were killed on Wednesday in the troubled northern Sahel region of Burkina Faso, security source told the media on Thursday in the capital Ouagadougou.

According to the source that prefers anonymity, the soldiers were killed as an army patrol was ambushed by unidentified gunmen in Tinakof-Beldiabe road axis in the Oudalan province.

“The military response claimed the lives of nine terrorists,” the source also said.

On Sunday, four civilians lost their lives in attack by unknown armed men in Djeka village, central-north Namentenga province in the West African country.

Most attacks in the former French colony are attributed to the jihadist group Ansarul Islam, which emerged near the Mali border in December 2016, and to the JNIM (Group to Support Islam and Muslims), which has sworn allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The poor Sahel state has been battling a rising wave of jihadist attacks over the last five years which began in the north but have since spread to the east, near the border with Togo and Benin.

Those groups are believed to be responsible for around 500 deaths Since 2015, terrorist attacks have killed over 500 people, including 200 soldiers, and displaced thousands in Burkina Faso.. The capital Ouagadougou has been attacked Four times.

The attacks occurred in a full swing of election campaign for presidential and general elections slated for November 22.