Attack on security forces kills nine in Burkina Faso

Gunmen killed nine soldiers and officers in an attack on a police station and military unit in northeastern Burkina Faso on Saturday, security sources said, in the latest deadly assault in a country battling an Islamist insurgency.

Several dozen heavily armed men carried out simultaneous attacks on the army detachment and police station in the town of Sebba in Yagha province, a security source said.

The "large-scale terrorist attack unfortunately resulted" in the deaths of nine people, the source told AFP.

Another security source said that the victims were mostly police officers, and the attack was "aimed in particular at the police station".

The source added that the attack caused "significant material damage" and the attackers took weapons with them during their withdrawal.

Burkina Faso, which shares a border with Mali and Niger, is caught up in an Islamist insurgency in which increasingly frequent attacks have claimed more than 800 lives and displaced over 800,000 people since 2015.

An armed group attacked Sebba, near the Niger border, on February 10, killing one resident and abducting seven from the home of a pastor.

Five of the abductees, including the pastor, were found dead three days later, while two women survived, according to the regional governor.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso's armed forces are weak, struggling with poor equipment and lack of training and funding.

According to UN figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger left nearly 4,000 people dead last year.