This archive report was first published on 10 September 2019.
On September 9, 2019, six policemen lost their lives in an attack in northern Burkina Faso, a region plagued by jihadist violence.
According to security sources, a group of officers was ambushed by armed individuals in Soum province on Monday.
The attack, carried out by 'armed terrorist groups operating in the region,' left six dead, another source confirmed.
The incident came after the government reported 29 civilians killed and six wounded in two attacks on Sunday in the northern province of Sanmatenga.
Additionally, four soldiers were wounded in Yatenga province, also in the north, a security source said.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore condemned the attacks, stating, 'these unspeakable attacks, these despicable acts (which) will not go unpunished.'
Burkina Faso, a former French colony and one of the world's poorest countries, has been struggling with Islamist unrest since 2015.
The country's army has been increasingly targeted by jihadists, with a recent attack on a military base in northern Burkina Faso killing 24 in an unprecedented blow to the army in its campaign against jihadists.
The insurgency, which originated in neighboring Mali, has spread to the east, resulting in over 500 deaths since 2015, according to a toll compiled by AFP.
The capital Ouagadougou has been attacked three times, including a March 2018 jihadist assault on the military headquarters that left eight dead.
A summit of regional heads of state is scheduled to be held in Ouagadougou on Saturday to discuss the security situation.
