At least 160 terrorists and 51 soldiers killed in clashes in northern Burkina Faso

MADRID, 20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Burkina Faso Army reported on Monday the death of 160 "terrorists" and 51 soldiers in an ambush perpetrated by armed militiamen last Friday between Deou and Oursi, in the province of Oudalan.

"At the end of Monday, February 20, 2023, 43 more bodies have been found, bringing the number of fallen soldiers to 51," the Burkina Faso Armed Forces reported in a statement collected by the Burkina24 news portal.

"Operations continue with an intensification of air actions that have made it possible to neutralize a hundred terrorists and destroy materials," he indicated. This figure is added to the 60 militiamen already killed in the first military reaction.

Burkina Faso, ruled by a military junta since the January 2022 coup against then-president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, has experienced increased insecurity since 2015.

The junta is now headed by Ibrahim Traoré, who led a coup in September that was considered a "palace coup" against the until then leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

The continuous attacks in the country, carried out by both the Al Qaeda affiliate and the Islamic State affiliate in the region, have also contributed to an increase in inter-communal violence and have caused self-defense groups to flourish, to which the Burkinabe government has added to 'volunteers'.

The deterioration of security has caused a wave of internally displaced persons and refugees to other countries in the region.