Ouagadougou | A Burkinabe soldier and eleven suspected jihadists died Saturday in a “clash” in the Koumbri area, in the north of the country near the Malian border, according to an army statement released Wednesday.
Saturday, “a military unit coming in support of the VDP (Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland, civilian auxiliaries of the army) was attacked by armed men in the vicinity of Koumbri”, indicates the state press release. -major of the armies, by drawing up a weekly report on operations to secure Burkinabé territory.
“A soldier was killed during the clash. Six wounded were also recorded on the friendly side ”, continues the text which indicates that“ on the enemy side, 11 terrorists have been neutralized ”and that“ search operations are continuing in the area ”.
This clash comes four days after an attack by armed individuals in the same area, bordering central Mali, which left six dead including two VDP.
Established in November 2019, the VDP are civilian auxiliaries of the Burkinabé security forces in the anti-jihadist fight. They receive a 14-day military training.
The north of the country, bordering Mali, is the area most affected by jihadist abuses which have left more than 1,200 dead and more than a million displaced, fleeing areas of violence.
Burkina Faso is, with Mali and Niger, one of the countries most affected by jihadism and violence in a conflict in the Sahel that has continued to spread since its beginnings in 2012 in northern Mali.
The area known as the three borders between these three countries is, along with central Mali, the epicenter of the violence. In early January, 105 Nigerien civilians were killed in a jihadist attack in the western part of the country bordering Mali.