Four Burkina Faso soldiers were killed and eight more wounded when their vehicles hit improvised explosive devices on Tuesday in the restive north of the country, security sources said. Burkina Faso has been battling jihadists in the north as an Islamist militant insurgency that began in Mali spreads across the Sahel region. Jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso, which borders Mali and Niger, have killed around 800 people and forced 800,000 from their homes since 2015. Militants are increasingly using improvised explosive devices and landmines in Burkina Faso, often combining them with ambushes. Across the Sahel, Islamist militants – as well as the intercommunal violence they have provoked – killed around 4,000 last year in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, according to the UN.

Source: Punch March 04, 2020 12:11 UTC