BSS :
Suspected insurgents killed at least 19 gendarmes and a civilian in an attack early Sunday in northern Burkina Faso, officials said.
The pre-dawn attack, one of the deadliest to hit Burkinabe defence and security forces since violence erupted six years ago, targeted a “detachment of the Inata gendarmerie”, the army chief of staff said in a statement.
The attack left 20 dead including a civilian according to a “provisional” toll, Security Minister Maxime Kone said on national radio, adding that the gendarmes “resisted and fought bravely”, and that survivors had been located, with a search still under way for others.
A security source said that the assailants drove pickup trucks and motorbikes and engaged in “lengthy exchanges of gunfire” with the gendarmes. A separate attack occurred Sunday morning in the town of Kelbo, also in Soum province, according to government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura.
“Fortunately, this attack was repelled by soldiers,” he said, adding that they were backed by volunteer civilian fighters and there were no casualties. On Friday, seven police officers were killed and five were wounded in an attack in Alkoma, in neighbouring Seno province, according to police.
