Over 12 army volunteers have been killed in fresh jihadi attacks in the northern part of burkina faso.
According to the locals and security forces, the terrorist group attacked a section of the VDP auxiliary on Wednesday near Belga, about 170 kilometres from the country's capital Ouagadougou.
The regional office of the VDP said that 12 soldiers were killed during the attack, and five others were injured, adding that the jihadi suffered massive losses too. A force member stated that the VDP was conducting a "sweep with military support" against the attackers.
This attack some barely a week after over 50 soldiers were killed in a similar jihadi attack in the northern part of the country.
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The army revealed that on the 20th of February, at least 51 troops were killed in an ambush in northern Burkina Faso on Friday. The attack has one of the highest documented death tolls from a single attack since the region became a terrorist hotspot.
The event took place just two days before France declared the end of its combat activities in the West African country, where 400 French special forces were stationed in 2015 to help fight an insurgency that had spread from neighbouring Mali.
The bandits launched their surprise attack in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso's Oudalan province, which borders Mali.
Burkina faso, like many west African countries, is dealing with an increase in terrorist activities. The jihadi insurgency in the country started in 2012 after insurgents from the Tuareg uprising in mali expanded their territory to the northern part of burkina faso.
The conflict has spread to neighbouring countries despite costly international military deployments and UN peacekeeping efforts. In the Sahel region south of the Sahara, millions are homeless, and thousands have died.
The northern part of burkina faso is the country's blindspot due to its vast area and insufficient military power to govern it.
