Eleven Burkina Faso soldiers were killed on Friday in what local authorities said was the biggest ever jihadist attack on the army, at a base near the restive border with Mali.
“We lost 11 of our men in the attack this morning in Nassoumbou … the biggest jihadist attack ever perpetrated” against the army, the high commissioner of Soum province, Mohamed Dah, told AFP by phone.
Two more men were missing after around 40 jihadists riding pick-up trucks and motorbikes attacked the base some 30 kilometres from the Burkina-Mali border, he added.
“They were heavily armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket-launchers. They opened fire at the depots, the tents and set fire to some of the vehicles,” he added.