At least 15 soldiers were killed in a fresh attack by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, sources in the security forces said Tuesday.
A unit in Tin-Akoff near the border with Mali “came under violent attack” on Monday evening, one said, giving a toll of “about 15 dead” with others still missing.
The army mounted a counter-attack with air support, “neutralising… dozens of terrorists,” the source added.
A second source confirmed the assault and put the toll at 19 soldiers dead and “dozens of missing.”
The bloodshed comes with the Sahel nation already reeling from a deadly ambush last Friday in the same region.
Fifty-one soldiers died and 160 jihadists were killed in that action and the aftermath, according to army figures.
More than 10,000 civilians, police and troops have died, according to NGO estimates, and more than two million people have fled their homes since jihadist insurgents began launching cross-border incursions from Mali more than seven years ago.
