Death toll rises to 51 in Burkina Faso attack

OUAGADOUGOU: At least 51 soldiers were killed in the latest ambush in northern Burkina Faso's Sahel region, with more bodies of soldiers found as the search operations continue, the Army said in a statement.

An ambush targeted a military unit between Deou and Oursi in Oudalan province last Friday, according to the Army's initial reports, which gave preliminary estimates of casualties at eight deaths, three injuries and several missing among the soldiers. The same source also said on Monday evening that around 60 terrorists were killed during the air counter-offensive.

By the end of Monday, 43 more bodies had been found, bringing the provisional death toll to 51 soldiers, said the Army in a new statement.

The operations continue with an intensification of aerial actions, with a hundred terrorists neutralised and their equipment destroyed, said the new statement, noting that this figure is added to the 60 terrorists neutralised since the beginning of the riposte, Xinhua news agency reported.

Burkina Faso has been suffering from insecurity since 2015, with many people killed and thousands of others displaced.