The Burkina Faso Army command on Wednesday announced that an improvised explosive device killed five soldiers on patrol in northern Burkin Faso.
The statement disclosed that the attack happened around 3:00 pm local time when the soldiers were engaged in reconnaissance near the town of Mentao. One of the vehicles in the convoy set off the device.
“The provisional toll is five soldiers killed and one other wounded,” the statement added.
Ground and air reinforcements had been sent to evacuate the victims and search the zone.
This is just the latest in a series of attacks generally attributed to terrorists operating in the region. A terrorist insurgency in neighbouring Mali spilt over into Burkina in 2015.
The armed groups are linked to Al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State. More than 1,500 people have died in the attacks, which have forced at least 1.4 million people to flee their homes since 2015.
Most of the attacks have taken place in the north and east of the country, near the borders of Mali and Niger.
