Burkina Faso: 11 soldiers killed in terrorist attack

A terrorist attack in northern Burkina Faso killed nearly 11 soldiers on December 25. According to local reports, a detachment at Namissiguian military base in Soum province was attacked while the military officials were patrolling the village of Hallale. Even though no group has claimed the responsibility for the ambush, the Sahel region is home to several terrorist groups including al-Qaeda. 

Wednesday's incident follows another attack on December 24 which killed 35 civilians including mostly women. Apart from civilians, the double attack on military base and Arbinda town in Soum province resulted in the death of seven soldiers and 80 terrorists. President of Faso Roch Marc Christian Kaboré had even declared 48-hours of national mourning following the incident as the attack is one of the deadliest in nearly five years of terrorist violence in the West African country.

Read - 35 Civilians, 80 Terrorists Killed In Militant Attacks In Burkina Faso

Burkina's struggle against terrorism

Dozens of terrorists carried out the morning raid on December 24 which reportedly lasted for several hours before the armed forces backed by the air force drove the militants back. Earlier the Faso security forces claimed in a separate media statement that they had killed nearly a hundred terrorists in multiple operations since November.

About 37 were killed in an ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company in November. Attacks have intensified as the Faso army is reportedly under-equipped and poorly trained.

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Over 700 people have been killed and nearly 560,000 internally displaced in Burkina Faso as per the United Nations, with attacks concentrated in the North and East of the country though Ouagadougou has been hit three times.

Earlier this month, leaders of the G5 Sahel nations - Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger - held talks and called for closer cooperation and international support in combating terrorism. The issue roots back to armed Islamists revolt in northern Mali in 2012.

The United Nations and French forces support the G5. 

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(With agency inputs)